Dying To Be Beautiful: A Spectre in Death - Photo series

Student - Ilhan Hussein

Supervisor - Sophie Waring

My project aims to discuss the consistent absurdity in beauty through its intersect with disease. Disease and beauty are often framed as oppositional, disease associated with decay, and beauty with vitality. During the development of the Old Operating Theatre, Romanticists aestheticised tuberculosis, viewing it as an enlightened way to die despite the emaciated look it resulted in. Upper-class women sought to replicate this using toxic substances such as ammonia and mercury despite the fatal consequences. Similar practices were observed with belladonna use in dilating the pupils, heroin use in the 1990s and the use of non-prescription weight loss medication such as Ozempic or GLP1, perpetuating an unattainable standard of thinness and exacerbating already rampant pro-ana (pro anorexia nervosa) culture.  

I modelled this via a medium vital to beauty culture, makeup. These looks are accompanied by a physical beauty trail, through additional labels to pre-existing exhibits in the anatomy and poison sections of the Herb Garret. I invite the audience to interact with this relationship via related postcards encouraging the audience to spot the relevant ‘hidden’ labels on miniature hand out cards.