French artist Aïda Bruyère has compiled a publication of images from one hundred-plus manicure tutorials found on YouTube. Speaking about Nails, Bruyère emphasizes the multiple dualities of these complex acrylic manicures, which she views as at once artificial and incapacitating as well as objects of desire and disgust.
There is an emphasis on pleasure throughout the publication, the images of which evolve through soft shots of sparkling pastel manicures and twists of silk cloth into those of darkened metallic nails that become longer and sharper, often shown scratching and digging into flesh and tearing apart fruit. This last section of Bruyère’s publication encapsulates the artist’s interest in the sexuality of these images and their tutorials, which exist within an aesthetic as well as a psychological niche, often providing content for ASMR videos.