L’Impero dei Sensi is an immersive experience involving the visual, tactile and olfactory spheres creating a synaesthetic narrative accompanied by dance performances. The immersive installation-presented during Design Week 2023-in the Visionnaire Design Gallery‘s Wunderkammer is dedicated to the senses as tools for knowing the world. L’Impero dei Sensi is a unique project, born from a vision of Studiopepe – Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto – to narrate a capsule of three pieces designed for Visionnaire: the Shibari armchair, the Parade lighting system and the Blanche pair of mirrors.
In this sensory experience, the arts and design come together to create a magical and engaging atmosphere that evokes the feeling of diving into a soft, muffled world where time stands still.
Each object on display offers a sensory experience, which deeply engages the visitor. The gaze falls on the Shibari armchair, with its woven structure, which invites tactile experimentation. As one is enveloped by the armchair, an explosion of light catches the eye. It is the Parade lighting system, a light sculpture at the center of the room. The light becomes a dance of emotions that joins the touch of the Shibari. One is then reflected in the surfaces of Blanche mirrors, which reveal symbologies to be discovered. Finally, a video work curated by Varianteartistica – Flavio Pescatori and Mattia Caprara – enriches the exploratory journey, using materials from film archives.
While admiring the beauty of the objects, there is a light scent that intoxicates and relaxes at the same time.
The room is entirely covered in powder-colored faux fur made by Jab Anstoetz Group, and this tactile coating releases the scent of amber. The novel fragrance – created in collaboration with olfactory designer Antonella Bondi – stimulates sensuality in everyone. A mix of sweet notes that recreates a mystical and ancestral atmosphere. The perfect accompaniment for visitors to enter this gallery and experience, sniffing the individual generative blends that make up the entire olfactory project.
