The outbreak of Covid in 2020 and the lockdowns that accompanied it caused much turmoil, but also produced intriguing ways of doing things. New York-based visual artist Danilo Lauria recently launched L’Eau de Distance, a digital-inspired perfume available on the cryptocurrency platform, Hic et Nunc.
While quarantined in Barcelona, Spain, in May 1920, his investigations of producing digital content remotely culminated in the L’Eau de Distance series.
When Gunu Kapoor from Dallas-based perfume manufacturer Privé Label found the pictures on Danilo’s social media, they worked together to explore the smell of digital content.
The result? A project that questions the traditional notion of fragrance when the bottle is removed and the scent of cryptocurrency.
Of course, we wanted to know more, so Danilo Lauria answered the following questions.
Congrats on the intriguing project. It’s quite conceptual and not everyone will get it. Give us the elevator pitch.
Thank you, I'm very excited about L'Eau de Distance.
The objective is to take the perfume out of its comfort zone: the bottle. Perfume expert Gunu Kapoor took me through the perfume creation process.
The proposal is the following: L'Eau de Distance launches limited-edition scents and by purchasing the limited edition NFT, the collector will also receive a limited-edition perfume.
Perfume purists might see this as a gimmick. Your thoughts please?
It's not a gimmick but a different way of showcasing a perfume.
A teacher once told me: "If you want to learn, teach". I wanted to learn more about perfumes and that's why I'm launching one.
Describe the smell of the actual L'Eau de Distance. How was it created?
There were two phases in the creation process.
Firstly, I reached out to different crypto experts with one question: what does crypto smell like? When I had a good range of answers, I provided the best concepts to Gunu and his team.
They explored different scents using natural products only and mailed them to my house for review.
I'll let future collectors describe the smell.
Have you and Gunu met in person since the project got off the ground?
We haven't met in person yet. He’s in Los Angeles, I'm in New York City. We’re connected by an idea.
Is this a one-off? Or will you be collaborating again in the future?
We’re already talking about the next scent. To be continued...
L’Eau de Distance is for sale in a limited edition of 10 NFTs for 300 Tezos each on the Hic et Nunc platform. Each buyer will then receive the physical fragrance from Danilo.
Richard Goller is a fragrance and grooming blogger. His blog is called Fragroom. A senior editor with 20 years' experience, his blog allows him to combine two of his passions: engaging content and the always-intriguing world of fragrances. When he isn't blogging, you'll find Richard indulging in his newly found passion for balcony gardening.
