DIFFUSIO

 

Olfactory performance, 2019

 

In Diffusio, I explore the fleeting and often invisible traces of human action through a performative olfactory installation in public space. The work consists of applying carefully prepared scents onto exterior walls, a gesture at once deliberate and absurd: the fragrances gradually dissipate, leaving no lasting mark. The act is endless and futile – a Sisyphean labour in which effort persists even as evidence fades, highlighting the tension between intention and impermanence.

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The scents themselves are composed from archival herbs, distilled essences, and aromatic materials, chosen for their evocative power and capacity to awaken memory and perception. As the fragrance interacts with the environment, it becomes a subtle, almost ghostly presence: passers-by may sense it briefly, but it cannot be grasped, recorded, or preserved. This ephemeral dimension underscores the fragility of human action and the transient nature of experience.

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By privileging scent over visual or material traces, Diffusio interrogates the limits of artistic intervention in public space. The project emphasises the poetic and philosophical dimensions of labour, perception, and memory; it is an exercise in persistence without completion, a reflection on how effort and intention can exist independently of outcome. The audience is invited into a space of sensory awareness, attuned to what cannot be held, documented, or owned.

 

Publications about project:

2019 "Right now ... Lisa Shtormit is holding a fragrance event called ‘Diffusio’", ARTuzel.com, Russia