Why do we need more? More stories? Why? I would rather don’t tell the stories about why I don’t want more stories but that’s another story. The Empty Story 2022 This performance and manifesto questions the constant need to create more and tell more. Poem I should ask myself why am I writing this? Is this just one more story to fill in the agenda? Why do we need more? More stories? Why? Embrace the law of noncontradiction I contradict my ideas to tell you more about them There are to many stores being told at the same time all the time And so many empty hearts waiting to be filled with hope I hope there is still meaning behind image I wonder it is there a real story lo De colar Why do we immediately try to kill? - Fling freely in our" houses. Why don't we allow ourselves to be bitten by them? We are afraid of them We don't understand them We don't see them We don't have empathy for them. We were so afraid of dying that we killed all the rest And our desire to achieve eternity lidded us to a "broken" (Eco)system. But isn't dying giving space to new life possibilities? Whenever something dies another born What is death for someone is life for others. I want to show the invisible world Allow new stories to be told Give more space to the others To our family To us We embrace the moth in "our" houses The carpet beetle larvae The silverfish The woodlice Give space to the insects To the larvae I give a woolen web where they can tell their story A non-human story The power of not doing Not saying Not telling Not moving Not breathing Not living. "Speech is silver, silence is golden" Why do we need more? More stories? Why? I would rather don’t tell the stories about why I don’t want more stories but that’s another story. We live in a reality, or shall I say hipper reality, where there are so many stories being told at the same time all the time that our minds become torpid and empty by them. The information runs like a waterfall, and we are passively sitting by the river looking at the overwhelming waterfall. There is no real story, only some futile images to fill the empty space. The system is messed up, the content doesn’t really matter, the dynamics behind the cultural institutions will keep the same no matters what we are trying to tell because the public only wants to see some nice images and have fun, our stories will not change the way things work but will just be another project amount the others to filling in the agenda. Furthermore, our impact in the world had become so big that we are even moving to a new geological epoch because of that. We were so afraid of died or suffering because of it, that we “kill” all the other species instead. Our will to live longer, the need to be healthier and the desire to achieve eternity lidded us to a “broken” (eco)system. When we see a mosquito fling freely in “our” houses, we immediately try to kill them, we don’t want to be bitten by them, we are afraid of them, we don’t understand them, we don’t see them, we don’t have empathy for them. Why don’t we allow ourselves to be bitten by mosquitos? Even if is painful or even, in some cases, we would die, what would be the problem? Shouldn’t we die at some point anyway? If you want, we could say whenever someone dies another born, this means when we die, we give space to new life possibilities. The power of not doing, not saying, not telling, not moving, not breathing, not living. The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT) born in the second half of the 20th century believes that by extinguish our specie (suicide) we could fight clime change (give space to new species/things). It can seem a joke or unsettling but is very beautiful, death is as beautiful as life because what is death for someone is life for others. To conclude my story, I “won’t” tell stories in order to allow new stories to be told, non- human stories, stories about fungi eating our bodies and transforming us back into soil.

INSPIRE ME is a project about the history of Douglas Firs trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and their relation with our surroundings. Inspire Me 2023 This research project is about the scent of Douglas Firs trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and its ecological impact on the biodiversity of the Netherlands. The project looks at the interspecies relationships with these trees and reflects on our current understanding of “nature” and natural spaces. INSPIRE ME is a project about the history of Douglas Firs trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and their relation with our surroundings. Douglas Firs makes part of the big group of gymnosperms trees, each has existed long before the earth knew its current continents. Like in many other conifer trees, the Douglas Firs have a strong scent resembling grapefruit and mandarins blended with pine, and sweet passionfruit notes (or as others may do as well think, the smell of Christmas trees). But actually what we perceive as smell, are, in fact, the VOCs (volatile organic compounds), a group of chemical compounds realized by plants that work as a self-defensive mechanism against other species, either by repelling or attracting them. Humans may perceive VOCs as simple smells, but other species, like insects and fungi, have chemical receptors that detect these compounds to help them navigate and find shelter or food sources. Douglas firs are not native from the Netherlands, they were brought from the east coast of North America, in the 19th century, because of their economic value, and now they can be found everywhere in the Netherlands. Along with this tree, insects and fungi were attracted by their VOCs and learned to live in the Netherlands, creating new relationships. By bringing an exotic species to the Netherlands, we (multiple species) change their biodiversity, even if on a small scale, and new relations are built, such as parasitic or symbiotic relationships. This phenomena, partly caused by humans, and partly caused by trees and other species became hard to be categorized as natural or artificial since they are the result of an interspecies interaction. This shows how impossible it is to disconnect us from nature because it is part of our existence. Instead of trying to label the world we should care and preserve it. Photo by Sabrina Voice-over: Solveig Weimar

- Philanthrosmia 2024 Why should we care more about our body odor? Philanthrosmia, is a neologism, meaning: the care for body odors (philo- love, anthro- human, osmia- smell), and gives name to a series of Body Odor Tastings, where all the participants can discuss the taboos related to body odors, while enjoying them in their food. Being able to accept our body odors as they require a lot of courage and time, as we have been pressured by social restrictions and prejudices to smell a certain way. The aesthetic construction of body odor is biased and it was built upon a colonial and racist past, where certain communities were deemed to smell worse than others due to their difference. Body odors play an important role in our lives, and our ancestors knew it better than we do for they used it to communicate with each other. Nowadays it is not so acceptable, to sniff one another in public, but could we still be implying our curiosity about body smells by enjoying their encounter in our food? During the Body Odor Tastings, all participants are invited to experience courses with whiffs of body odors, and the participants can compose a dish that recreates a body odor of their choice. Philansthrosmia creates a space for debunking olfactory-related body issues and in a broader sense, fosters more interest and awareness towards the sense of smell. This project had the help and support of Jurjen van Nes and the DAE community Experimental Grant.

A short movie that tries to picture Caetano's mindset. The images were collected at Praia do Sul, his childhood beach, where he used to spend his long summer days. Praia do Sul 2021 A short movie that tries to picture Caetano's mindset. The images were collected at Praia do Sul, his childhood beach, where he used to spend his long summer days, shaping his thoughts together with the grains of sand and the soothing waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

A digital representation of a dream place. A world of eternal inner peace, where lovers dance freely and bless each other with juicy fruits and fortune. Locus Amoenus 2023 A digital representation of a dream place. A world of eternal inner peace, where lovers dance freely and bless each other with juicy fruits and fortune. Music: Proteus - A Nineteenth Century Vision by Yuval Ron

The scents of five different extermination methods used on Japanese knotweed: uprooting, freezing, electrocuting, the use of herbicides and letting Tamworth pigs eat it. Aromas of Extermination 202 3 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. 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.

DEEP BREATH is a scent which transports us to the deep sea and reminds us that, whether we are humans or extremophiles, having a nose or a chemoreceptor, we are interconnected with all forms of life on this planet. Deep breath research Chemosynthetic bacteria Hydrothermal vents Deep Breath scent Origins of olfaction Sources Deep breath scent Dive into the boiling deep dark sea. Deep Breath is an aquatic fragrance with a flitting sulfuric note from the bottom of the ocean, immersed in a marine ozone heart that lingers a pacific and soothing fresh sea at the base. The main ingredient of the Deep Breath is the most abundant molecule in the sea, emitted into the air by aquatic life, Dimethyl sulfide, or DMS. Dimethyl sulfide is at the heart of the sea’s smell. And it’s there as a byproduct of the mechanism that algae evolved to deal with the saltiness of seawater. DMS resembles another sulfuric molecule, a simpler molecule called hydrogen sulfide, which is the key ingredient that sustains life under the sea in the hydrothermal vents, where life might have started. Sulfuric molecules might even be just a few of several elements that played an important role in life’s boiling beginnings, but they were prominent enough to mark some of the oldest rocks thought to carry traces of biological metabolism. Deep Breath is a journey through the evolution of life and it shows how what might be toxic for us now was once central to our lives. It goes from the depths of the ancient sea, where rocks came to life to the surface of the water of our present days.