last edited: 2 October 2024
What’s with the bald head, the short hair, the beard and the bushy eyebrows?
The bald head
Ever since I watched Apocalypse Now in 2008, I was curious about what my head would look like bald, and I wanted to recreate the scene with Marlon Brando where his bald head is such an intense feature. I still haven’t done that, but when I get around to it, I want to work with water, milk and eggs. In fact, if you are a photographer who doesn’t mind working with another photographer, I’d be happy to make this into a co-production.
Anyway, in 2017 I decided to let my hair grow to save money for the projects and by the end of 2017 I was intrigued to find out how long my hair could grow.
When my body went on strike in May 2023, it was time to end that particular experiment. My hair reached to my bottom, but I’m not a long hair person. The only thing I loved about the long hair was feeling the wet strands of hair on my back after a shower.
Before cutting my hair, I did photos on several days, my big camera on a tripod and the remote control in my hand. It’s quite an interesting series. Not just about hair but also about overweight and breasts. If you are an artist who is interested in exploring the material, I’m on board.
On the second of June, I finally cut my hair, but I wasn’t in the mood to play around with baldness. I just wanted the hair off. And I wanted to get better.
Nearly a year later, on the twenty-eighth of May 2024, I was tired, my short hair needed a cut, and I accidentally used my hair trimmer without the top, shaving a nice line at the back of my head.
Well, I thought. I’ve wanted to know what it’s like to be bald, I guess, now is the time to find out.
What an experience!
The first time I shaved, the scalp felt numb. It was really strange to touch it. By now it’s all active when I shave.
One of the things that struck me first was the sensation of genderlessness (which apparently isn’t a word.) But there is a degree of neutrality in the bald head that appeals to my inner self.
Another thing I enjoy about shaving is that the head feels different every day as the hair slowly grows back. And I particularly love the stage when the hair feels like velvet.
Feedback was so positive that this added to my already pleasant experience.
Another positive aspect is that I don’t have to go to a hairdresser. I can simply shave every four or six weeks and go through all the peculiar sensations again. Though, admittedly, I’m undecided about shaving in winter.
One time in August, I shaved because I wanted to mark my first step back into working fully. And this brought up an idea.
What if we used baldness & short hair as a silent form of protest? An act which tells our governments, our businesses, our billionaires, some of our journalists, some of social media’s players and other players that we are not OK with what they are doing. What if we won’t let our hair grow until we have substantially reshaped the way we deal with each other, the way we do business, the way we build, the way we coexist with nature, the way we restore it, the way we shape our societies and life on our planet?
As I mentioned before, I’m a bit uncertain about being bald in winter. But I am happy to keep shaving if we decide to use our heads to make a point.
What’s with the beard & the bushy eyebrows?
Do I take testosterone? No. I was tempted a few times to go down that road. The reason was that one of the few things the orthopaedists, I saw about my shoulder, agreed on was that I urgently need to build muscle. The idea of a shortcut via taking testosterone was very appealing. However, I’ve refused to take hormones most of my life and however tempting, I think I’ll stick with my original hormonal mix which has quite a bit of testosterone anyway.
I’ve had a beard for a long time and most of that time I plucked the hair. In early 2019, I made a calculation to find out how much time I spent a year on plucking hair. The result shocked me. I spent nearly 18 days a year on plucking hair, if you only count the 16 waking hours. I didn’t need much time to decide that no bleeding convention justifies to waste that much time, and I began to shave.
I love shaving wet. For me it has something meditative.
Once I stopped to pluck my beard hair, I also stopped to pluck my eyebrows – and, yes, I love my eyebrow’s bushiness. It reflects my own unwieldy and playful nature.
I am aware of ways to remove hair for good. I heard contradicting advice. One doctor said that with my testosterone level, it would be a waste of money to try.
I have no plans at the moment to do anything other than to keep shaving. But if I had money to spare, I might reconsider. I am lucky that I like my beard. But I can’t say I have a need of it.