Aromas of Extermination

2023​

Aromas of Extermination is an olfactory installation developed as part of the Japanese Knotweed Festival at Mediamatic in Amsterdam, created in collaboration with Frank Bloem and Rachel Barfield.

 

This project invited audiences to engage with Japanese knotweed, a plant frequently labelled as invasive, through the visceral experience of scent. During the festival’s opening symposium, each talk began with a different scent representing common methods for knotweed extermination: uprooting, freezing, electrocution, applying herbicides, and feeding it to Tamworth pigs.

 

By diffusing these distinctive odours, Odours of Extermination provided a sensory narrative that questioned the extent to which humans attempt to control a plant simply trying to survive.

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As part of the festival, participants foraged knotweed around Amsterdam, gathering it to be used in meals and creative experiences throughout the event. Rather than framing knotweed solely as an ecological threat, the festival fostered a more empathetic view, reflecting on the plant’s colonial history of introduction and its resilience in adapting to human-shaped environments.

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