AEROSCULPTURE

- Sea of Fragrant Cloud - 

space installation (2022)

Period: November 3rd (premier) – 12th, 2022
Production: Kyoto Arashiyama Art Festival (performing arts festival)
Venue: Riverside Ryokan Arashiyama Benkei, Kyoto Japan
Sound: Shambala 2 / Friedrich Glorian

What if we could see scents? This question became my theme since the pandemic began. Could the invisible movement of viruses in the air be made perceptible with the help of scents?  Aerosculpture is the collective name for a series of research and experiments that started with this question. This time, with the help of dry ice and smoke.

Traditionally, there is an incense culture in Japan. Incense is not only used to add a pleasurable fragrance to a space, but also has a sense of hospitality and a religious role in dispelling evil spirits. When people visit temples, they first cover their heads with smoke to purify themselves.

As a child, I simply enjoyed covering myself in smoke. It smelled slightly sweet and good, it was visible but it disappeared quickly, and I tried desperately to catch it, which was not at all possible to  grasp.  With this work, I tried to provide a place to play with the fragrance like a child.

As the exhibition venue was located in the heart of Arashiyama, a place of worship in the ancient capital of Kyoto, experiments were conducted to produce the 'aroma of temple incense' with dry ice.

Experimental music by musician Friederich Glorian's Tibetan gongs added depth to the time axes. In this way, the composition of time (sound) and space (fragrance) proved that scent can also be a performing art.