Spiral Memoriae by Alexine Sierro

Alexine Sierro’s practice operates at the intersection of technology, sensory experience, and critical inquiry, exploring how immersive environments can reconnect perception with broader ecological and material realities. ​

Spira Memoriae extends this approach through a multisensory virtual reality installation that examines ecological disappearance through smell and memory.

As natural environments erode, their olfactory identities fade, prompting the question of what remains of a place when its sensory traces vanish. The work unfolds as an intimate, three-minute experience for a single participant, seated within a confined space and guided through an abstract landscape of evolving particles.​

The virtual environment, combined with synchronized scented breezes, gently directs the participant’s movement, creating a choreography between image, motion, and smell. Three original fragrances — vanilla, oud, and rose — structure the experience, each referencing key materials in perfumery while pointing to their ecological fragility, shaped by habitat loss, overexploitation, and industrial pressures.​

Sustainability is embedded both materially and conceptually. Rather than using endangered natural ingredients, the fragrances are primarily composed of synthetic molecules, avoiding further strain on vulnerable ecosystems while questioning the reconstruction of nature through artificial means. The modular diffusion system, designed for precision and minimal material use, reflects a careful and adaptive approach to technological production.​

Through this multisensory encounter, Spira Memoriae renders ecological change perceptible. Smell, image, and movement converge in a fleeting experience where presence and absence coexist, allowing environmental loss to be felt as much as understood.