Elephant Cosmetics looks at cosmetics through the eyes of elephants and turns human beings’ quest for youth and smooth skin on its head. 

 

 

 

Beauty turned on its head

 

Elephant Cosmetics looks at cosmetics through the eyes of elephants and turns human beings’ quest for youth and smooth skin on its head. 

 

Genetics, social conditions, and fashion have given human beings a limited view of beauty upon which the cosmetics industry preys.

 

To challenge this closed-mindedness, a ‘new world order’ has been created in which beauty is imagined afresh by a different species. In this new world order, old is beautiful and young is ugly.

 

The resulting elephant cosmetics industry consists of mock brands and products which will appear inverted to humans. These inverted products speed up aging and cover up youth – from youth concealers to wrinkle deepening products.

 

The language used by cosmetics companies for their age-reversing and age-masking products is mocked through the invention of a new inverted language to serve a world where aging is the goal. This elephant cosmetics language is called the Elexicon, an 80-word Elephant-Human beauty dictionary.

 

 

 

Should there be a sole measure of beauty?   

 

“For human beings, beauty and youth are almost synonymous. But it would be arrogant to assume that the genetics and customs of our species are necessarily those of another,” explains Mr. Twist.

 

“Elephants may find age attractive, and youth the very thing from which to run. I believe that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and, when the beholder is an elephant, that beauty is age.”

 

“Of course, our purpose is not actually to sell these aging products to elephants or humans but to challenge the cosmetics industry and Homo Sapiens about how much cosmetics one sells and the other buys. This is an anti anti-aging crusade.”

 

 

 

Twisted brands

 

The artists parody the cosmetics industry by creating a parallel elephant cosmetics sector with 12 mock brand names and logos, all focused on selling aging products to elephants:

AgeOn, Babarmani, Clingy, Dolce Vita, D’OR, Extra Louder, Lanky, LaRéal, Max Attractor, Revolution, Suez Canal, and You Grow Moss. (Any resemblance to brands in the human sphere is satirical and without any intention of selling cosmetics products.)

 

 

 

Twisted products

 

The exhibition offers a range of inverted products or ‘counter-cosmetics’. They are contained in an 80-word Elephant-Human beauty dictionary – the Elexicon. For example, Anti Aging and Age Defying serums are replaced with Aging, Early Aging, Quick Aging and Age Release serums.

 

 

 

A moral message

 

“The fixation human beings have for looking and acting younger has led to expressions like ’60 is the new 40’ and ‘age before beauty’, We are challenging people with the idea that 60 instead can be the new 80 and that you can open the door for someone younger than you with the words ‘youth before beauty’,” Mr. Twist explained.

 

“Everyone has a right to want to look older. We want you all to join this revolution,” concluded Mr. Twist.