Dismantling the master’s house with his own tools: the Wrinkles Jewelry Collection’s defiance of visual agism

Abstract The prevailing antiaging beauty industry equates beauty and attractiveness with youth, especially in the case of women. Efforts to artistically challenge common conceptions of women’s representations are often based on undermining the mindset of the Western socio-economic system, with its emphasis on consumption and commodification. Reflecting Audre Lorde’s thought that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” various feminist artists have challenged oppressive beauty conventions through works that confront and undermine common representations of femininity and beauty in art, popular culture, and advertisements. This study explores this topic by examining how Noa Zilberman’s The Wrinkles Jewelry Collection, which is composed of photographs and video art of gold-plated brass objects that symbolize wrinkles, confronts the prevailing youth beauty ideal. The research employs a formal visual analysis of Wrinkles. We analyzed visual data, including still photography and video art, to identify patterns and themes that explore how the artist utilizes tools reflective of the commercialized beauty industry to defy the youth beauty ideal. The analysis allowed us to theorize a model of artistic ability to contest common oppressive hegemonic axioms that associate beauty with youth, while finding beauty in a place that has been marked out for shame – that is, in signs of aging.