Lost Industry (2006)

Iskra History Museum. Kazanlak , Bulgaria

First international art exhibition at the Iskra History Museum in Kazanlak, Bulgaria. The exhibition was held in conjunction with their annual rose festival, an important event for Bulgarian people as rose oil is such a coveted export. The project and collaborative performance with Bret Parker, was the result of thinking about and researching the rose oil industry and its social and economic impact on the country. It explores how the rise of new technologies, such as the Internet, affected the local rose oil industry by connecting it to a global network. While technology expands the network of our communication, it also diminishes the scope of our sensory interactions with others. This piece uses the metaphors of scent and wireless communication to juxtapose the sensory and technological modes of “invisible” communication that connect individual bodies as well as old and new modes of production.