Imagine Two Rivers, 2011-2013

In the summer of 2011, the artist Ines Lechleitner was invited to participate in the project Freie Flusszone: Yamuna—Elbe, which took place in Hamburg and Delhi. Within this context, Ines Lechleitner developed her multipart work Imagine Two Rivers: The Search for the Elbe—Yamuna Perfume.

 

Elements:

Notes on: Imagine Two Rivers: The Search for the Elbe—Yamuna Perfume, 2013: artist edition: box with two smaller 5m bottles of the Elbe Perfume and the Yamuna Perfume in a velvet bag with publication and poster, limited edition.

The Imagine Two Rivers: The Elbe—Yamuna Perfume, 2013: 30 ml flacon of the fusion in box.

Walk the Elbe—Yamuna Perfume, 2013: performance and different presentations of Imagine Two Rivers between September and November 2013.

Freie Flussassoziationen- Duftstudio 1 & Free River Associations—Fragrance Studio 2, 2011: one-on-one performances during Yamuna exhibition in Hamburg and Project Y- a Yamuna-Elbe public art and outreach project in Delhi.

Bottles of Thought, 2011: ink drawing and photographs on a light-vitrine.

River Traces, 2011: color photographs.

River Back Arms & Scales, 2012: black and white photographs and a papier-mâché sculpture.

On the practice of smell, 2012: performance and installation.

 

Imagine Two Rivers was made in cooperation with Yogesh Perfumes, Vienna, and in cooperation with the project “Freie Flusszone” by Galerie für Landschaftskunst, Hamburg, initiated as part of the “Yamuna—Elbe Project”. It was generously supported by the Austrian Federal
Chancellery and by the Kulturbehörde Hamburg.

The complex story, the diverse identity, and the usage of both the Elbe and Yamuna rivers lead to the idea of a multisensory dialogue. Essential elements of the work were, on the one hand, the investigation of associations and emotions that people connect with the two rivers, and on the other, the question of what may constitute a body of fragrance that is capable of uniting these two scenically diverse and geographically widely removed rivers. Imagination—in the sense of abundance of ideas and vision—served here as a possible tie between multiple professional languages and their individual cultural impressions.

 

Analogous to a long-term study, the project Imagine Two Rivers consists of several stages and comes to life through the contribution of various protagonists. Part of Lechleitner’s artistic work are audiovisual investigations, which are compiled in drawings, photographs, objects, banners, performances, and fragrances, and presented in diverse ways.

 

During the two performative Fragrance Studios in Hamburg and Delhi, participants described both the river on site as well as their impressions and notions of the faraway body of water. They touched upon personal and collective images, perceptions, associations and myths, living conditions, economic, religious, and political aspects, but also upon their very individual and biographical relationships with the rivers.

 

The joint work with the perfumer Yogesh Kumar with various fragrances was the next stage of the project. Here the artist searched for translations of the Fragrance Studio testers’ thoughts and sensations, previously discussed out loud, into individual fragrance components. This generated fragrance variations of both the Yamuna and the Elbe.
Each one of these Yamuna and Elbe compositions flowed into a joint body of perfume as a fusion of the two rivers.

 

With Lechleitner’s Imagine Two Rivers: The Elbe—Yamuna Perfume conceptions and images, olfactory and haptic experiences receive a shared space, where the river dialogues resemble the creation of perfume scents. It addresses nuances and stimulations that lie beyond the linguistic and conscious, and likewise touches upon personal as well as collective memory and desire.

 

Text: Nina Kalenbach and Ines Lechleitner
English translation: Klara Hobza and Jeffrey Keith Parrott

 

For full version of the works please click on title or image.

 

Notes on: Imagine Two Rivers: The Search for the Elbe—Yamuna Perfume, 2013