12 engraved plaster tablets.
30 × 40 × 1.5 cm.
The Espace de l’Art Concret (EAC) invited the Italian artist Davide Bertocchi, who lives and works in Paris, to undertake a residency at Azur Fragrances. The resulting exhibition occupied four spaces on level -1 of the Albers-Honegger Collection and was titled Head Space. In perfumery, “headspace” refers to the gaseous space above a liquid or solid sample inside a odor compounds. The volatile components of the sample diffuse into this gaseous phase, creating what is known as the headspace. During his residency at Azur Fragrances, Davide Bertocchi discovered a fascinating and inspiring environment. To create a sense of synergy, he invited each member of the company’s staff, as well as the EAC team, to select a piece of music that, much like a scent associated with a memory, evoked a particular moment in their lives. The resulting collection of songs, titled Side A (EAC + AF), was assembled into a playlist and broadcast throughout the exhibition.
The artist also presented 1000 Fleurs (1000 Flowers), a large one-cubic-meter container used to collect production residues and waste materials. This potpourri of random scents, with its unique and unpredictable fragrance, was bottled and made available for sale at the EAC. In the second gallery, Bertocchi created a series of engraved plaster tablets that make visible the molecular structures of the raw materials used in perfume composition. Resembling hieroglyphs or an alien language, these inscriptions appear as enigmatic signs or visual riddles awaiting interpretation.
Installation views from the solo exhibition Head Space, presented as part of the Art & Mondes du travail residency program at the Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux.
Spectres
/ 2022
