RESEARCH, INSTALLATION

Mapping Florida Water

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The initial brief included the mapping of a product–the eau de cologne Florida Water produced by Lanman&Kemp–on the shelves of each bodega (small multi-ethnic convenience store). The research began by mapping a bottle of Florida Water under an emotional, logistic and ownership profile. Through interviews and research in postal archives it was evident that a product that appears to be normal is actually the representation of the spirituality of some cultures (Suriname for example) and how this–through the tracing of the Lanman&Kemp company expansion process–is exploited by external bodies for purely commercial purposes. The result is an installation in which the interior of a bodega is reproduced, where, on two separate shelves, the research elements are presented: on one the mapping of the industrial product and on the other the normal Florida Water craft preparation. Above them on a screen a video shows the interviews recorded during the research. The aesthetics and language of the installation is dictated by the desire to make the information available to all bodega customers, often uninformed and unaware of what they consume.

Florida Water is in collaboration with: Federico Santarini and Marek Glowgowsky