creating scentsmaking of

scanning against nothingness

today’s picture shows you my working bench, with the keyboard that sits in front of the cintiq. There, on the cintiq, I will in a second work on a peony flower picture that I scanned yesterday. I hung the flower on a frame and let it sit right on the surface of the scanner without actually touching it. I will work on the picture, remove part of the dust, adjust the blackness: Scanning against nothingness gives a dark background, but as my room is not really nothingness, it is a tint off black.

The shows and structures that you see on the picture come from the drapes in the studio room. This pattern was the reason why I took the picture. I reminded me in the fact that I wanted to get things done a bit differently for SOTTO LA LUNA®, playing with pictures and moods, and doing so on a more “private” level. For the readers new to the idea of sotto la luna (under the moon): sotto la luna is going to be a line within the tauer universe that consists of flowers, blooming under the night sky, white flowers, either by color or by their perfume. White flowers are for instance: Gardenia (finished), hyacinth (finished), tuberose (not finished).  The  shadow pattern reminded me in it as I am thinking about visuals of the moon, the night, cities, white flowers and much more.

There is one arranged element in this picture: The flacon in the bright sunlight. It is empty. I brought it home from the factory in order to get some pictures done, of the cap, the relief on the flacon, on some details like the crimping edge on the flacon’s neck. When I saw the light playing with the drapes, I wanted to see the serious and somewhat austere flacon talking with these playful elements. It is these playful elements that I want to see with sotto la luna.

On various levels: the scent. the decoration. the visual. the message. Playful, for me, means also, not worrying about the many twisted things that happen these days in the industry and the places where perfume lovers gather. Or, like an other artist told me the other day “most of the discoveries can remain private”….and maybe they should these days. On a certain level. To be frank: It has become obsolete to  talk about inspiration as perfumer: not many listen anymore. too many scoops and visions and too many reanimated historic treasures behind too many scents have pushed the boundaries, the patience of perfumistas and perfumers. Not many listen and that’s actually a good thing: My hope is that at some point, perfumistas and art lovers will start smelling again and engaging with what’s real.

Thus, in a sense, playful means maybe not sending a message out really, not talking about it to the intermediaries, not serving a precooked soup of notes, doing things differently by not doing them, maybe.

Yet, you have me talking here, about not talking. I haven’t really figured this one out, yet. Maybe I will find a way to talk about tuberose (as example) and sotto la luna less through words but more through shadows playing on surfaces.

When you talk about a particular flower, take tuberose for instance, many seem to have very specific expectations. Mostly, I dare to state, these expectations are trimmed and defined by what we are served, by industry and by the so called niche. The mechanics are the same. I am convinced that by not talking about sotto la luna and tuberose (for instance) when I am done with it and present it, the more interesting it will become. Thus, tuberose, sotto la luna, will come, when it is ready. Right now, I am waiting for version 24 to mature and getting ready for dilution.

Coming back to the picture, there are bottles on the right side, a common theme in the house of tauer: Bottles everywhere. It is a constant fight to have enough space to place a mouse or a booklet. On the cintiq, you paint with the pen, directly on the sensitive surface of the screen (you do not see the screen on the picture), and hence I at least do not have to worry too much about mouse space. 

And now: the peony scan. Enjoy your day!