The Arctic Scents

When Highsnobiety approached me to do a video piece for their channel I immediately wanted to collaborate with photographer Benjamin Hardman. I had been following his journey in Iceland, he moved from Australia to Iceland to travel around and photograph the country, sometimes it takes an outsider to get a fresh look on the nature here and I really love his approach. We did not want the video to be overproduced, I told him about my idea of large scale artwork in nature, a stark contrast to the white winter shot from above to show the magnitude and the scale of the pieces. I love the outcome of this collaboration and I´m sure we will be doing more, I almost wanted to leave the pieces on site, just as if aliens had landed and left them behind...

Text by Graeme Campbell: 

Our Highsnobiety peregrinations have seen us take in many places, but none as magical as this. For this piece of original video content, we travel to Iceland’s arctic tundra for a filming session with perfumer and visual artist, Andrea Maack and photographer Benjamin Hardman.

Known for its lagoons, Aurora Borealis, and Bjork, Iceland’s mystical landscapes are unmatched anywhere else in the world. Here, we film Andrea carrying out an abstract visual piece set against the ambient strains of acclaimed Danish electronic musician, Trentemøller.

As the artist casts circles in the snow, drone cameras capture the mystical beauty of the sparse lands. If you didn’t know where the video was set already, it would be easy to assume it took place on the moon.

Video & Photos: Benjamin Hardman  | Commission: Highsnobiety  | Music: Trentemøller |Wardrobe: Damir Doma & Off-White

The artwork shot from above look tiny in the vast landscapes.

Standing still in the middle of the black circle was a very spiritual experience, I´m sure I went into some sort of a trans...

Approaching the circles 

Original sketches of the video installation