Stress Soap
Soap, packaging, instructional ephemera
Partcipartory design, sensory installation
2022
Soap, packaging, instructional ephemera
Partcipartory design, sensory installation
2022
Stress is something we carry, but what if we could hold it, shape it, and wash it away? Stress Soap gives shape to that weight—turning stress into something you can see, hold, and physically wash away. Designed as a series of 15 soaps, each variation represents a different kind of stress—psychological, physical, or social—scaled by intensity (low, medium, high). The more overwhelming the stress, the bigger, darker, and more expensive the soap, making its weight tangible in both form and value.
By inviting people to lather, break down, and dissolve the soap, the work transforms a daily act of cleansing into a ritual of release. It draws a direct line between mental and physical hygiene, reframing self-care as something as essential and routine as washing your hands or brushing your teeth. Personalized instructions guide the user through this process, turning an everyday object into an intimate tool for reflection.
Sitting between design, psychology, and social commentary, Stress Soap plays with the idea of stress as a commodity. By pricing stress, it highlights the ways emotional labor and mental well-being are often shaped by economic structures—managed, marketed, and monetized. It blurs the line between function and concept, questioning how we engage with stress in a world that often profits from it.
By inviting people to lather, break down, and dissolve the soap, the work transforms a daily act of cleansing into a ritual of release. It draws a direct line between mental and physical hygiene, reframing self-care as something as essential and routine as washing your hands or brushing your teeth. Personalized instructions guide the user through this process, turning an everyday object into an intimate tool for reflection.
Sitting between design, psychology, and social commentary, Stress Soap plays with the idea of stress as a commodity. By pricing stress, it highlights the ways emotional labor and mental well-being are often shaped by economic structures—managed, marketed, and monetized. It blurs the line between function and concept, questioning how we engage with stress in a world that often profits from it.
