Cartier has just unveiled a new installation that converts fragrance from an intangible sensation into a visible experience. The project is the brainchild of Cartier’s head perfumer Mathilde Laurent and follows on from Laurent’s 2017 installation outside the Palais de Tokyo, OSNI 1.
In-house perfumer at Cartier, Mathilde Laurent
Cartier OSNI 2 installation
OSNI 1 was a habitable glass cube with a single twisting staircase inside that led visitors through a floating cloud, up to a clear, perfume-filled vista. Like its predecessor, OSNI 2 The Scented Myth aims to bring perfume outside of the bottle and, consequently, recalibrate how people experience smell.
The installation opens with a mythical incarnation of the Dame à la Panthère, an artwork created by artist George Barbier in 1914 for a Cartier invitation. As viewers step further into darkness, they watch as the silhouette of the panther moves around the space in the form of thousands of luminous particles. In the background, a gentle soundscape composed around the golden ratio frequency plays, adding to the dreamlike atmosphere.
OSNI 2
‘At the meeting point of chemistry and alchemy, of the infinitely large and the infinitely small, perfume is much more than simply applying a scent on ourselves,’ says Laurent, who unveiled her apartment-style Cartier fragrance laboratory earlier in 2022.
'A manifestation of the invisible and the impalpable, it questions our human condition within the universe and blurs the boundaries that separate the molecular level from the cosmic, the physical from the metaphysical. Because it supports humanity in its daily life while at the same time questioning the nature of the world, perfume works in tandem with art. My dearest wish is to make this convergence apparent to all.’
OSNI 2 is open to the public until 11 December at 2, rue Robert Esnault-Pelterie, 75007 Paris
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