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This spiked charcoal soap, made both physical and digital with Kara Rasure for London Design Festival, reflects the paradox of being both a weapon and cleanser. Made from soap and invasive plant biomass, it questions colonial ideas of labeling life as native or invasive, exposing how such categories justify removal and erasure. Its fortress-like form recalls concrete barriers, anti homeless spikes, and border walls, yet it is made of soap, a material that dissolves with water and touch. This contradiction highlights the fragility behind seemingly permanent structures of power. As the piece is used, its sharp edges wear down, softening and breaking apart.
Exfoliation becomes a metaphor for reckoning with history. Just as soap clears dead skin to reveal new layers, the piece points to stripping away entrenched systems of domination. Charcoal, used for purification, draws out toxins, while invasive plants are recast as cleansing agents rather than threats. This reframing challenges narratives of purity and contamination that uphold exclusionary politics.
By transforming invasive species into biochar soap, the work redefines otherness as a resource for renewal. Its dual nature underscores the paradox of decolonial work: dismantling harm requires engaging with its forms even as they dissolve. Washing activates this process, leaving charcoal traces as reminders of contact, change, and memory.