Scene-setting scents: Elodie Pong's 'Paradise Paradoxe' in Zurich

We hesitate to make any comment about appropriate names, but we couldn’t help noting the happy coincidence that an intriguing new exhibition in Zurich about scent has been put together by the Swiss video and installation artist Elodie Pong.
In this solo show at the Helmaus Zurich, Pong, who trained as a sociologist and anthropologist, charts new perceptual territory with art that you can smell. As she points out, scents establish nonverbal connections between people, objects and places, and while you can close your eyes, you can’t turn off your nose.
In Paradise Paradoxe, as the show is called, Pong probes the invisible olfactory architecture that surrounds us, with the help of plants created by a 3D printer and a robot that hurls the names of perfumes at a wall, not to mention a fragrance that has never been smelled before. In the accompanying video works, she juxtaposes ideas from current olfactory theory with the dancing human body, as a literal source of many and varied odours
In another room a mobile projector, mounted on a robot, displays the names of real perfumes on the walls, names that enable the hugely profitable perfume industry to build linguistic ‘boxes’ round something that – by its nature – transcends words. In addition, Pong has enlisted the help of scent scientist Roman Kaiser, one of the pioneers of headspace technology, to create a new perfume for the exhibition, which will also include concerts, talks and music workshops, not to mention a performance of pop songs on a theremin.
The solo show at the Helmaus Zurich, charts new perceptual territory with art that you can smell
In Paradise Paradoxe, as the show is called, Pong probes the invisible olfactory architecture that surrounds us
...with the help of plants created by a 3D printer and a robot that hurls the names of perfumes at a wall, not to mention a fragrance that has never been smelled before
In the accompanying video works (pictured), she juxtaposes ideas from current olfactory theory with the dancing human body, as a literal source of many and varied odours
In another room, a mobile projector, mounted on a robot, displays the names of real perfumes on the walls
INFORMATION
Paradise Paradoxe is at the Helmhaus Zurich until 8 May. For more information, visit the website
Photography: courtesy of the artist
ADDRESS
Stadt Zurich
Helmhaus Zurich
Limmatquai 31
8001 Zurich
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Ghanaian cuisine has a story to tell at Washington, DC restaurant Elmina
The new restaurant is chef Eric Adjepong’s colourful ode to the recipes he grew up loving
By Sofia de la Cruz
-
Pedro y Juana's take on architecture: 'We want to level the playing field’
Mexico City-based architects Padro y Juana bring their transdisciplinary, participatory approach to the Mexico pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025; find out more
By Ellie Stathaki
-
The Sialia 45 cruiser is a welcome addition to the new generation of electric boats
Polish shipbuilder Sialia Yachts has launched the Sialia 45, a 14m all-electric cruiser for silent running
By Jonathan Bell