Nature After Nature: DRAWING TREES WITH SCENT

Preparing for the Future: Forest Bathing Without Trees – A performative funeral procession for collective olfactory memories

Scientific studies have shown that forest atmosphere has a significant physiological effect on people, which is reflected in the trend towards so-called ‘forest bathing’ (Shinrin Yoku), among other things. It is assumed that these effects are achieved by inhaling various secondary plant substances produced by trees. 

With the olfactory performance DRAWING TREES WITH SCENT, the artist and research duo MUELLER-DIVJAK (Jeanette Müller & Paul Divjak), who are currently working together with Alexandra Graupner at the AIL on the art-based research project ‘Sensing Living Systems’ (FWF/PEEK AR776), are staging a temporary olfactory experimental set-up that creates ephemeral evidence. Visitors are invited to take their time, follow their nose and let a selected fragrance composition take effect on them. Delicate scents of tree species that are threatened with extinction due to commercial over-harvesting, uncontrolled deforestation, excessive habitat destruction and man-made changes in climatic conditions fill the air.