AN OLFACTORY PORTRAIT OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST
INTERACTIVE PERFUME INSTALLATION ABOUT THE AMAZON, 2017
CATHERINE SARAH YOUNG (PH)
What do we lose if we lose the Amazon? An Olfactory Portrait of the Amazon Rainforestexplores the vanishing Amazon through scent. This ecosystem includes flora, fauna, and indigenous communities. Smell is closely related to memory, and so in smelling the scents, perhaps you can recall some of your memories and create a personal relationship with the rainforest.
The Amazon, which sequesters tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere and helps stabilise our climate, is currently under threat from deforestation, mining, and other destructive human activities. The ephemeral nature of smell is also intended to be a metaphor for this vanishing rainforest.
Catherine Sarah conducted research for this project while being immersed in the Amazon jungle for ten days in Brazil in July 2017. The scents were created through chemical distillation and perfumery techniques. This is a continuation of her olfactory explorations, beginning with The Ephemeral Marvels Perfume Store, a perfume line of things we could lose because of climate change.
BIO
Catherine Sarah Young is an artist, designer, and writer whose work explores emerging technologies and alternative futures through interactive storytelling and sensory experiences. She has collaborated with scientists, companies, chefs, artists, think tanks, and museums around the world. Catherine Sarah is the founder of The Apocalypse Project, an interdisciplinary platform that explores climate change and our environmental futures, and Future Rx, a platform for sustainability and environmental choices. She has spoken internationally about her work at various conferences and workshops, and has received grants and fellowships in New York, Barcelona, Seoul, Singapore, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Medellín, and the Amazon.