Dear Shaded Viewers,
Yesterday Marco de Rivera and I went to experience the House of Cartier4OSNI 2Decond OSNI from the House of Cartier, “Le Mythe Parfumé” which explores the transcendental dimension of perfume. We both live in the 7eme where the installation is from December 1-11. We walked in circles trying to find the location, at the end of this post, I will make it easy for you to find.
We know that perfume uplifts our souls. There are the myths myths: Aristotle, Plutarch, Theophrastus and Pliny the Elder told of the scented panther, capable of exerting an irresistible power of attraction on other wild animals thanks to the good smell that emanates naturally from it. An invisible yet powerful halo. An aura… of scent. This traditional story was the starting point for imagining an immersive installation where light and fragrance meet to bring about the divine-like appearance of the iconic feline.
“Seeking to merge myth and icon, I imagined the emotion of seeing them come to life before us through all the senses, to express the power of olfaction. An initiation to which everyone is invited. At the meeting point of chemistry and alchemy, of the infinitely large and the infinitely small, perfume is much more than a scent that you put on yourself. A manifestation of the invisible and the impalpable, it questions our human condition within the universe and blurs the boundaries that separate the molecular scale from the cosmic scale, the physical from the metaphysical. Because it supports humanity in its daily life while at the same time questioning the nature of the world, perfume works in common with art. My dearest wish is to make this convergence obvious to everyone.” Mathilde LaurentCartier perfumer “Taking perfume out of its bottle and allowing the public to discover and experience the power of olfaction: this is the intention that inspired the first OSNI – Objet Sentant Non Identifié – in 2017.
Le Mythe Parfumé is Cartier’s second Unidentified Smelling Object, imagined by Mathilde Laurent, the House’s perfumer-creator.
It succeeds Nuage Parfumé, conceived in 2017 in a glass cube installed on the Palais de Tokyo basin for the FIAC. It was presented as part of the “10,000 Years of Luxury” exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2019.
OSNI 2 invites the visitor to a new olfactory and sensory experience where perfume and art work together.
This immersive installation is the result of a collaboration between Mathilde Laurent and the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs, a London-based art and design firm founded by Dagny Rewera and Vincent Rebers.
Installed on the esplanade of the Invalides, OSNI 2 will be accessible free of charge from December 1 to 11, 2022, upon reservation.
To avoid the problem of finding the location, go to the exit at Invalide in front of Air France, look to your right and you will see a big poster OSNI 2.
Later,
Diane
