site_specific – Maki Ueda

OLFACTORY LABYRINTH VER. 7

– Facets of the Forest –

space installation (2024)

DATE: November 1st – December 1st, 2024
CONTEXT: Art Festival “Akigawa Art Stream”, Tokyo Japan　
CURATOR/PRODUCER: Tomohiro Okada (Creative Cluster)

[Concept]

This installation, a partially site-specific installation created for Hinohara Village in Tokyo, invites viewers to experience the fleeting and ever-changing moments of forest aromas. Each bottle gracefully moves around the observer, dispersing scents continuously via ropes that descend inside the bottles. The installation captures the shifting facets of scents carried by the wind, offering an immersive journey into the dynamic nature of olfactory perception.

The scent of forest encompasses an intricate blend of elements—wood, soil, moss—all interacting and shifting under the influence of seasons, weather, temperature, and humidity. These stimuli reach our senses as air and wind carry them. At one moment, a fresh coniferous scent might dominate, while in the next, the earthy aroma of soil might emerge. The olfactory sense often focuses on keynotes within the overall aroma, much like hearing isolates a melody from background noise. This installation explores and shares the complexities of how scents are perceived and processed.

The exhibition took place in Hinohara Village, Tokyo, a region of mountains, emerald-green streams, and a rich harmony of sacred nature and centuries-old forest life. This area has long supplied cedar and cypress to central Tokyo and continues to nurture future forests through forestry practices. The work pays homage to the enduring relationship between the village and its forests, as well as the dedication to preserving this legacy for generations to come.

[Medium]

Bamboo skewers, glass bottles, ropes, silk threads, fragrances, solvents

[About the Olfactory Labyrinth Series]

Olfactory Labyrinth is a series exploring themes of olfaction and movement. This version is based on ver.4, while ver.6, with a similar structure, focused on the theme of pheromones.

[Scents Used in the Work]

Hinoki (Japanese cypress) from Hinohara Village
Cedar
The Earth Accord (original)
Moss Accord (original)
Coniferous Accord (original)

EAU DE ISHIGAKI

THE AIR OF ISHIGAKI ISLAND

installation (2020)

DATE: November 2020
CONTEXT: Fusaki Art Week (local art festival in Ishigaki Island)
VENUE: Fusaki Beach Resort, Ishigaki Japan

Fragrances extracted from local flowers are exhibited in the way representing the sphere of the island.

1. Powder Puff Tree

2. Night Jasmine

3. Silk Jasmine

4. Lotus

5. A Queen of the Night

6. Taiwan Sugar Palm

1A1637D6-ECAB-475B-86A5-E147CD1F3E28_1_105_c

56AE8829-3E9C-4580-B5A2-2ABE2E84715A_1_105_c

AEROSCULPTURE

– Sea of Fragrant Cloud –

space installation (2022)

PERIOD: November 3rd (premier) – 12th, 2022
PRODUCTION: Kyoto Arashiyama Art Festival (performing arts festival)
VENUE: Riverside Ryokan Arashiyama Benkei, Kyoto Japan
SOUND: Shambala 2 / Friedrich Glorian

What if we could see scents? This question became my theme since the pandemic began. Could the invisible movement of viruses in the air be made perceptible with the help of scents? Aerosculpture is the collective name for a series of research and experiments that started with this question. This time, with the help of dry ice and smoke.

Traditionally, there is an incense culture in Japan. Incense is not only used to add a pleasurable fragrance to a space, but also has a sense of hospitality and a religious role in dispelling evil spirits. When people visit temples, they first cover their heads with smoke to purify themselves.

As a child, I simply enjoyed covering myself in smoke. It smelled slightly sweet and good, it was visible but it disappeared quickly, and I tried desperately to catch it, which was not at all possible to grasp. With this work, I tried to provide a place to play with the fragrance like a child.

As the exhibition venue was located in the heart of Arashiyama, a place of worship in the ancient capital of Kyoto, experiments were conducted to produce the ‘aroma of temple incense’ with dry ice.

Experimental music by musician Friederich Glorian’s Tibetan gongs added depth to the time axes. In this way, the composition of time (sound) and space (fragrance) proved that scent can also be a performing art.