An Olfactory Journey to Iceland

There's no denying that Iceland is a magical place. It boasts breathtaking landscapes, brilliant Viking myths, countless heated outdoor swimming pools, unpredictable weather (from bright sunshine to a bone chilling snowstorm in minutes) and it's a place to view the (elusive) Northern Lights. The country is also at the heart of scent artist Andrea Maack's practice, who grew up in Reykjavik when it "had a village feel." She says of her work, "the most important thing to me is that people wear the scents – that they are wearing my art."

To celebrate her latest collection and campaign, Maack invited AnOther and photographer Benjamin McMahon to exclusively document a special journey across Iceland. "Lying on the black beach in Vik staring up at the rocks above us, there were puffins and gulls flying in and out of the rocks.  All you could hear was the birds and the roar of the ocean," recalls McMahon of the inspirational trip. "Knowing that the sea could have swept over us at any moment didn't matter."

Here, we present McMahon's favourite shots alongside Maack's thoughts on Iceland and her early relationship with fragrance.

On the highlights of the recent trip...
"The trip was all about putting imagery to the fragrances. I wanted to put the different elements into context and see what would happen – it was a spur of the moment thing, like most of my work. The most memorable thing was how it turned into an Odyssey-like quest into my subconsciousness. It was more chaotic and unexpected, governed by forces way beyond our producer's control; sand storms, floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes... A moment happened in Reynisdrangar – a black beach with basalt sea stacks. The surf there is powerful and every now and then there comes an enormous wave that crashes into the beach and grabs everything that is in its way and pulls it out to sea. Me and Saga Sig, my photographer, wandered off into a black basalt cave close to the waterfront. We notice that the waves were coming pretty close but the cave kept luring us in. In comes a monstrous point break type wave and we know we are trapped. After a nanosecond of staring death in the eye, we sprint out of the cave before the wave crashed the rock and filled it. Frantic, we come around the corner and run into a tranquil Benjamin McMahon, quietly capturing portraits of puffins. It´s an experience that puts you in your place… for a while at least."

"The most memorable thing was how it turned into an Odyssey-like quest into my subconsciousness" — Andrea Maack

On growing up in Iceland...
"I grew up in Reykjavík at a period of time when it still had a very much of a village feel. As kids, we used to swarm around the neighbourhood and the coastline for hours and hours completely unsupervised – it was almost like Lord of the Flies. As a teenager, it was more of the same thing. We had pretty much free reign, the country was much much more isolated than it is today and everything seemed a million miles away. External influences were very scarce and you had to be self-sufficient in many ways. The early 90s for me was in many ways a defining period where by some freak accident the contemporary music and art scene in Iceland was in sync with the rest of the world. I think it was maybe through Björk and Dieter Roth and the influx of friends and collaborators they brought with them. In art school, my focus was performativity and conceptual and that has been the core of my work, both in art and fragrances, ever since."

On Iceland as inspiration...
"Iceland is such an inseparable part of me. For me it´s more about emotions and moments. I prefer the winter; I like the cold, the darkness, the different blacks and whites. I like contrasts, a hot pool in an icy cold snowstorm. These contrasts translate into my work – in fragrance creations I like simple clear elements and notes that maybe wouldn´t usually go together."

On her first interest in fragrance... 
"I have always been drawn to different scents, good and bad. One of those lasting impressions is smelling my skin after swim practices in the geothermal pools. Every time I go back home I always go straight to the pool – it´s like a reset button for me. I've always had an urge to capture these type of moments and the imagery associated with the aromas. To me they are inseparable."

On her new collection...
"It´s very personal and a natural progression for me. An important aspect of the approach is the ability to communicate directly with the community around the collection on social media. It's important when you are doing something new that your voice is untainted. I like being able to invite people into the world around the fragrances, the story behind them and the context in which they were created. We are also introducing an obsidian-like bottle and a new retail concept early next year. We will be revealing all of this bit by bit in the coming months, amongst other things."

Text by Laura Bradley