Taus Makhacheva

Taus Makhacheva, ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) Spa, 2018. Installation view at Blackburne House, Liverpool Biennial 2018. Photo: Thierry Bal

Taus Makhacheva, Tightrope (film still), 2015. Image courtesy the artist

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Taus Makhacheva (b. 1983, Moscow, Russia) lives and works in Moscow, Russia. Despite being born in Moscow, Makhacheva’s cultural origins are in Dagestan, which often informs her practice. She works with different media including installation and performance, but is predominately known for her videos, often exploring notions of truth relating to cultural authenticity and assimilation following the Sovietisation of Dagestan. Her video piece Tightrope (2015) is a complex work that plays on the delicate relationships between art history, politics, past and contemporary culture.

Taus Makhacheva has created a ruin-like sculptural installation inside Blackburne House that serves as a spa, in collaboration with artist Alexander Kutovoi. The installation incorporates ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) techniques and video. A new range of beauty products has been developed with Tigran Geletsyan from 22|11 Cosmetics for spa treatments. Throughout the Biennial, visitors are invited to book a facial treatment, which will be conducted by a performer and take approximately 30 minutes. In this passive state, the visitor becomes a sculptural subject. During the treatment, stories about artworks that have disappeared throughout the history of art will be told. The work reflects on our contemporary condition, dominated by screens and membranes, anxiety and loss of intimacy.

Also presented at Liverpool Biennial 2018 is Makhacheva’s video piece Tightrope (2015), in which the artist interrogates notions relating to cultural authenticity and assimilation following the Sovietisation of Dagestan. Screened at Victoria Gallery & Museum, Tightrope is a complex work that plays on the delicate relationships between art history, politics, past and contemporary culture. 

To book and to find out more about the ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) Spa click here.

Recent exhibitions include 57th Venice Biennale, Italy (2017); Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2016); 13th Shanghai Biennial, China (2016); Kyiv Biennial, Ukraine (2015); 4th and 6th Moscow Biennale, Russia (2011 and 2015); Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (2014); Sharjah Biennial 11, UAE (2013); and Liverpool Biennial, UK (2012).

Taus Makhacheva at Liverpool Biennial 2018

ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) Spa, 2018
Plaster, metal, foam, wood, silicon, glass and other materials
Video, 29 min
Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial
Exhibited at Blackburne House

Signature Sculptural Facial, 2018
Live performance, 29 min
Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial
Performed weekly throughout the Biennial at Blackburne House

Tightrope, 2015
Video, 58:10 min
Exhibited at Victoria Gallery & Museum