Three artworks from Beyond the Manosphere explore masculinity through perfume, bathrobes, and divorce

Maurits de Bruijn selected three narrative-driven works for an audio tour accompanying Beyond the Manosphere, an exhibition examining masculinity as a subject, image, and evolving phenomenon. EMIRHAKIN's Sillage features readymade perfume boxes with hyper-gendered brand names like 'Extremely Hot' and 'Macho', critiquing prescriptive gender roles through commercial packaging. Sophie Calle's The Bathrobe is interpreted as a post-#MeToo cautionary tale where power dynamics in intimate relationships are laid bare, with a line noting a man wearing the same robe as the narrator's father highlighting vulnerability. Bruno Zhu's Divorced, father of two employs heteronormative aesthetics via storage boxes patterned with old-fashioned curtains to tell a story of connection and loneliness, suggesting the illusion of fitting societal boxes. The audio tour involved contributions from Simon(e) van Saarloos, Lilian Stolk, Sjef van Beers, and Margarita Osipian of The Hmm. The works collectively approach masculinity as something laughable and subject to change, using specific objects to unpack gender constructs.