“Cargo Cult (from the series Body Beautiful, Or Beauty Knows No Pain)” is an artwork by Martha Rosler, created around 1972. The artwork, which belongs to the Feminist Art movement, is a collage placed within the genre of photo-based art. The collage is a critical embodiment of the era’s societal norms and beauty standards.
The artwork features an array of shipping containers stacked on a ship’s deck, each container adorned with various images of women’s faces undergoing beauty rituals. These images emphasize the meticulous, repetitive activities associated with maintaining societal beauty standards. The juxtaposition of industrious workers operating around the colossal containers, which are adorned with these large-scale feminine beauty images, satirely highlights the commodification of women’s appearance and the societal obsession with beauty culture. The use of collage as the medium allows for a dynamic interplay between the industrial and the feminine, critiquing the pervasive commercial and societal mandates regarding women’s beauty.
