ENVISIONING SCENT AS SCULPTURE

SCENT SCULPTURE -- ZUZA MENGHAM + LABORATORY PERFUMES

Artist and designer Zuza Mengham collaborated with British scent specialists Laboratory Perfumes to explore the aesthetic relationship between scent and the other human senses.

Working with Laboratory Perfume’s 5 scents, ‘amber’, ‘gorse’, ‘samphire,’ ‘tonka’, and the newly launched ‘atlas,’  Mengham translated fragrance ephemera into solid forms with a series of stunning sculptures showcased at London Design Festival 2016.

Cast in resin, each piece features a unique blend of colors, angles, and effects, as light passes through translucent layers.

Founded in 2011, Laboratory Perfumes crafts unique, gender-neutral fragrances, scientifically formulated to react to the wearer and evolve over the day.

Inspired by the natural flowers, herbs and aromatic botanicals of Britain and beyond, the scents are made from natural oils and hand-blended.

When we viewed the pieces on exhibition, we tried to identify scents by merely looking at the sculptures, before we read their respective descriptions, just as Mengham did when she created the pieces.

After Mengham matched them up  the scents with their descriptions, she made a series of drawings with watercolour overlays, building up the colors and patterns until they embodied the essence of each fragrance.

Laboratory Perfumes formulates its scent recipes by creating scent sculptures. Each perfume has 3 distinctive notes as part of their fundamental blueprint.

LP’s “Amber” has fresh grassy topnotes, woody center notes, with a mellow ambergris scent base.

Mengham used a clear green tint, with pale chalky marbling at the top of the “Amber” sculpture to match the top notes, transitioning down to a deep burnt sienna to match the scnet base.

“Samphire” exudes salty marine freshness, interpreted by Mengham in cool blue oceanic colors and embedded textures.

“Gorse,” with its crisp citrus scent, is played with bright yellow, just as the iconic flowers that grow in rough Scottish meadows and seaside cliffs.

“Tonka,” is turned out with speckled gray, as an homage to the bean.

The “Atlas” fragrance is centered around the scent of pipe tobacco, with layers of rum, vanilla, hay, and fresh ozone top notes inspired by the scents of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains.

Based in London, Mengham works to create large scale sculptures and installations as well as jewelry design. She created a unique set of resin sculptures for musician FKA Twigs, which were included in live performances.

See more of Mengham’s designs here and learn more about Laboratory Fragrance here.

Read more about Beautiful Design in The Kinetic Art & Design Of Time Now, Innovative Biological Design is Beautiful Now, Design is Making Food and Drink More Beautiful Now, Incredible Design Alchemy At London Design Festival 2016 and Utopia by Design is Beautiful Now at London Design Biennale.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Amber,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
2. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Amber,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
3. Image: by Alberto Lamback. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. Zuza Mengham Studio.
4. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Tonka,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
5. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Tonka,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
6. Image: by Alberto Lamback. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. Zuza Mengham Studio.
7. Image: by Alberto Lamback. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. Zuza Mengham Studio.
8. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Amber,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
9. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Amber,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
10. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Amber,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
11. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Amber,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
12. Image: by Ilka Franz. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. “Amber,” design by Zuza Mengham, fragrance by Laboratory Perfumes.
13. Image: by Alberto Lamback. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. Zuza Mengham Studio.
14. Image: by Alberto Lamback. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. Zuza Mengham Studio.
15. Image: by Alberto Lamback. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. Zuza Mengham Studio.
16. Image: by BN App - Download now!
17. Image: by Alberto Lamback. Courtesy of Laboratory Perfumes & Zuza Mengham. Zuza Mengham Studio.