Complimentary samples with each order
XYLOFLOR
The dreamlike bouquet
DESCRIPTION
Xyloflor® is a dreamlike bouquet created by Paris-based perfumer Nicolas Bonneville and fragrance house Firmenich to accompany the exhibition of Shezad Dawood: Night in The Garden of Love.
Fusing wood (xylon) and flora, the fragrance is named after an invented, mutant word - Xyloflor.
Shezad Dawood (b. 1974) is known for his exploration of non-Western traditions that inform and intersect with established canons. Yusef Lateef (1920-2013) was an African-American composer and musician who pioneered the integration of world instruments to expand the boundaries of jazz traditions. Over time, he developed a methodology he called Autophysiopsychic music. “It is about heightened consciousness and aims to activate the physical, mental and spiritual senses simultaneously,” states Dawood. Aware of Lateef’s music since his own youth, Dawood became fascinated with Lateef’s ideas after seeing his drawings, which function as abstract musical notation, and present organic, plant-like forms.
Titled Night in the Garden of Love after Lateef’s 1988 novella, the exhibition features music, a selection of drawings and the scent Xyloflor® bringing to life the various plant notes of the Garden’s collectively imagined ecosystem. The perfume - with hints of jasmine and brugmansia - is housed in a specially designed ceramic vase developed in collaboration with Ofumum.
A limited series of artist signed edition soliflor and scent is available to purchase. Its unique shape and colors have been designed by Shezad Dawood.
Presentations:
Wiels, Brussels, Belgium, May 18 - August 13, 2023
Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada, Nov. 10, 2023 - May 5, 2024
TOP NOTES Bergamot, Basil, Pear, Black pepper, Jasmine Sambac Nature Print (NP)
MIDDLE NOTES Jasmine Sambac absolute, Brugmansia NP, Passiflora NP, Queen of the Night NP, Foxgloves (digitalis) Artificial Intelligence AI, Edelweiss (Lion’s Foot) AI, Wishbone (Torenia Fournieri) AI, Daisybushes (Ostéospermum) AI
BASE NOTES Cedarwood, Patchouli, Musk
Couldn't load pickup availability
“It captures flowers from Night in the Garden of Love, as well as other. This scent brings to life the various plant notes that are found in an imagined garden.”
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Not all of the plants referenced by Dawood and Lateef have a discernible scent. Therefore, using the garden’s potential as a site of creation, and conceived by Perfumer Nicolas Bonneville with the help of Artificial Intelligence and Headspace technology, this scent traverses the digital and natural world. Using dsm-firmenich’s AI database, Dawood described an embodiment and association to the plants, enacting a call and response, which translated into the corresponding scent.