N.Lichtig, Parfum d'Oubli—hand blown glass spheres, hermetically sealed, containing Ziziphus zizyphus fragrance, silkscreen print on fabric, dried plant, case, edition (print, dried plant). 2016—ongoing.
Parfum d'Oubli is a two part work which developped out of spending a lot of time in the Jardin de Plantes, the Botanical Gardens of Montpellier. A quite inconspicuous tree attracted my attention there, the Jujuba-tree, in its latin denomination: Ziziphus zizyphus. I found out that this tree is being also called the Lotôs, the very plant that the ancient Greek Homeric epic The Odyssey (chapter XI, the Lotôs-eaters) describes as provoking amnesia, and specifically the forgetfulness of one’s homeland. While spending time in the garden, I wrote a text embodying the plants life, and I have been collecting its leaves and its flowers, and extracted their fragrance — with the precious help of the chemistry department of the University of Montpellier.
The work consists of two autonmous parts:
The installation consists of liquid-filled hand blown glass spheres containing the perfume of the Lotôs plant (Ziziphus zizyphus). These spheres are placed on a siklkscreen print on fabric, optically distorting the surface, creating literally "memory holes".
An edition of the text ... as far back as I will remember. Told from the perspective of the Ziziphus zizyphus plant, the text gives notice of the future of our planet, and how the pharmaceutical qualities of Ziziphus zizyphus might become influential. Augmented by original leaves of the plant, each edition is unique.
2016 in: A scientific encounter: On Intersubjectivity, cur. by Alistair Robinson, University of Montpellier.
2018 in: It smells like... flowers and fragrances, cur. by Dr. Heike Fuhlbrügge, Me Collectors Room/Olbricht Foundation, Berlin.
