Perpetual Renewal
Incorporating scent into a museum setting is always a challenge, especially when sharing space with other artists and their work. For Flow States, La Trienal del Museo del Barrio, this "limitation" shaped my approach. I covered the entrance walls with Little Trees air fresheners in the scent of Caribbean Colada. This installation continues my exploration of the scent of the sea, but from a different perspective. Here Caribbean Colada introduces a commercially produced scent that reflects the frequent exploitation and commercialization of Caribbean imagery as paradise. At the same time, this scent evokes feelings of longing and demonstrates the powerful ability of smell to create spaces of belonging and recovery.The Caribbean Colada scent, with its notes of coconut and pineapple, serves as a vivid reminder of the tropics as idealized realms. This choice also connects to the history of the Little Trees company, founded by Julius Sämann, a German-Jewish migrant who fled persecution during World War II and settled in Canada. Sämann's invention of Little Trees is a testament to the resilience of migrants who, despite displacement, contribute profoundly to global culture. By using this scent, the installation subtly honors this legacy, weaving together narratives of migration, survival, and the commercialized imagery of paradise that often obscures deeper histories.
This installation blends utility and accessibility, creating a sensory experience that resonates with museum visitors and the broader community. Initially, the plan was to completely cover the walls in an overlapping pattern, making it difficult to immediately identify the objects. However, the intensity of the scent required adjustments, allowing each visitor to take a Little Tree with them, dispersing the scent beyond the museum walls.
Crowning the installation is a neon piece titled Perpetual Renewal. This sculpture features two intertwined profiles with conjoined respiratory tracts, forming a 2.5-foot diameter neon ring that bathes the entryway in hues of pink and blue, reminiscent of a sunset. It serves as a tribute to shared rhythms and a longing for synchronized experiences. Originally produced in 2013 but later lost, the piece has been re-created with the help of Sony, the neon artist I’ve collaborated with since art school. These elements tie together my artistic journey, linking early explorations to the themes I am deeply invested in today.
