Miniature Olfactory Lab (2011)
MIXED TECHNIQUE
Peter De Cuperre's miniature version of a fragrance laboratory is detailed in every detail. At the back are countless jars and bottles of fragrances, in the foreground four cabinets each show a scale model of one of his scent installations. In the center left is that Peppertreeduplicateballs PTDB - Tree Virus, a ball of peppermint topped with an old pepper tree. Semi-parasites - like the mistletoe, which gave De Cupere the idea for this work - need a lot of heat in addition to a host. In this greenhouse environment, that heat generates a scent mix of peppermint and black pepper. The scent is so intense that it literally brings tears to the viewer's eyes. The “tree virus” spreads through new peppermint spheres in the tree. The cabinet in the middle right contains Flower Fragum Cardamomi, the world's first 'scratch and smell' installation. The more than a thousand thorns of the in reality nine-meter-tall installation look like strawberries and emit the same scent when touched.