Though these 10 scents don’t really exist, can’t you just smell their potential success?
No. 1 Marina Abramovic
Rhythm No. 0 by Marina Abramovic for Adidas
The top notes of blood and tears blend perfectly with a base note of petroleum. Perfect for nights when you just want to stay in and stare at your partner for hours, or when you’re out with Jay-Z or Lady Gaga. Rhythm No. 0’s bottle is a chair.
Left: “Self-Portrait/Nursing”, 2004, by Catherine Opie. Right: “Self-Portrait/Cutting”, 1993, by Catherine Opie. Images from Arteverywhereus
No. 2 Catherine Opie
Opie
A perfume that can be worn by sports enthusiasts and leather-fans alike, Opie has an intimate and personal scent. Designed to be worn in a group, it will help its wearers express a strong sense of individual identity. Its bottle resembles a jockstrap.
Ryan Trecartin & Lizzie Fitch
No. 3 Ryan Trecartin & Lizzie Fitch
Youth Obsession by House of Trecartin and Fitch
A barrage of pubescence hits you like a thousand old Abercrombie hoodies. Subtle hints of Adderall and Skippy brand peanut butter can’t quite mask the pervading aroma of the Internet. Meant to be sprayed all over your body while discussing how much you hate someone. The bottle is a GIF.
Elmgreen & Dragset. Image from My Art Guides
No. 4 Elmgreen & Dragset
Prada Marfa
A knock-off of Prada’s Eau de Parfum, it comes in a mostly empty bottle.
Cindy Sherman for MAC Cosmetics. Image from Raw Naked Art
No. 5 Cindy Sherman
CS-1
The scent chemically adapts to the wearer’s skin, so it can be paired with any look, which is perfect for when you’re on a Sophia Loren vibe or want to dress up like terrifying clown. A different image of Cindy Sherman adorns each bottle.
Jeff Koons’ “Balloon Dog”. Image from Huffington Post, Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast
No. 6 Jeff Koons
Balloon Dog
Made by a team of fabricators and assistants out of synthetic oils, this perfume pongs of money, spinach, and a variety of flowers (Begonias, Petunias, Impatiens, etc). The Balloon Dog-shaped bottle is mirrored for the perfectly aromatic selfie.
“A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby”, 2014, by Kara Walker. Image from Animal New York
No. 7 Kara Walker
Sugar Baby
Saccharine and shadowy, Sugar Baby is subtly confrontational, but the wearer might not know that at the time. In fact, those who wear the perfume frequently misunderstand the odor as light and sexual, when in fact it’s actually a comment on sexuality. Often used inappropriately – though the manufacturer expected this to happen – it creates a seemingly limitless odour. Sugar Baby comes in a bottle shaped like a black woman as a sphinx made of sugar.
Screenshot from Youtube Video.
No. 8 Olafur Eliasson
Your Olfactory Possibility
This neon green perfume will change your perspective about smell entirely. The scent is a bouquet of moss and Icelandic hot springs. The bottle is a half-sun with a mirrored ledge that completes it.
Takashi Murakami. Image from Japan Times
No. 9 Takashi Murakami
ko2 for Louis Vuitton
Made for the woman who is a fetish object, Ko2 at first smells flat and plasticised before bursting with floral fragrances. The bottle is a ball of smiling flowers and comes in an edition of 500.
Screenshot from Youtube video.
No. 10 Oscar Murillo
Collusion
Overpriced and untested, Collusion can only be purchased at auctions, as the first edition has sold out and there’s a waiting list for the next one. Hints of chocolate and marshmallow mix in with the faint smell of a yoga studio for the utilitarian man. The perfume comes in a bottle wrapped in a messy canvas from the artist’s studio floor.
Taken from SLEEK print issue #48 Sweet Airs, available for purchase on our online shop