Allogrooming Lounge
Allogrooming Lounge
Media: MDF, plywood, pine, tropical plants, mulch, hairstyling tools, and 6 hairstylists (Participatory)
Size: 5' x 40' x 12'
Date: 2014
Photo credit Jerry Truong and Lisa Dillin
About Allogrooming Lounge:
Primates spend up to 20% of their time on social grooming practices known as allogrooming. Humans have evolved to develop relations in a comparable manner. Due to the dramatic shifts in social norms that today’s environ requires, we are becoming increasingly physically isolated and therefore experience touch-deprivation. Allogrooming Lounge provides a context to connect through social grooming activities in an experiment that aims to enrich local community while shedding light on contemporary human behavior.
A sincere thank you to the stylists who generously participated in this work: Angelina Braithwaite, Andrea Contreras, Rachel Epstein, Lindsay Hall, Lisa Hawks, Sean Walsh, Heidi Yorkston Silberg, and students from the American Beauty Academy Shakina Fenwick, Rayonna Hill, Carletta Kpakima, Bryant McMillan, and their instructor Ms Mack.