ABOUT ARTIST:

Lisa van Casand graduated from The Royal Academy of Art The Hague in 2017, specializing in documentary photography. She is fascinated by the things that exist on the edges of our knowledge web. That grey area where fact and fiction, mystery and science, reality and interpretation converge. She creates semi-scientific research documents about enigmatic phenomena that challenge us to reflect on the essence of truth.

SUBMISSION: Petrichor

During a rainfall, an earthy smell known as petrichor permeates the air. The smell comes from a yellowish oil trapped in the rocks and soil. As rain soaks the dry earth, botanical molecules are freed, volatile essential oils rise to the surface and are carried by the wind across the ground.

This earth perfume is created by a symphony of bacteria, chemical compounds and natural phenomena. These elements, responsible for the odor, exist on every continent and our human noses have evolved to be extremely sensitive to this particular smell.

The perfume, locked in a gold-coloured ampoule, will serve as a memory of life on our planet. A reminder of home. It can be snapped open once, to transport you back to earth in a second.