Jimmie Durham

1997

Sculpture, 25 x 7 x 10 cm.
Materials: glass bottle, scent, textile

Collection: Courtesy of the artist.

In 1995, Jimmie Durham made a [trip to Siberia](http://ensembles.mhka.be/items/3686) and found out that, just like in North America, there were black walnuts. The incredible smell of it reminded him of his childhood and he felt at home. He decided to make a perfume that would have an [Eurasian](http://ensembles.mhka.be/ensembles/eurasia) smell which he would in this way preserve, with the green black walnuts as special ingredients. Durham described it on a text accompanying the artwork [*Black walnut*](http://ensembles.mhka.be/items/1807): “I made an Eurasian perfume, mixing the fresh green shells of the walnut with sage, elderflower, rose and other plants (Black walnut is of course no longer native to Eurasia, but my premise was that it once had been.) The smells of the outer skin, shell and nutmeat are each distinctive, but all beautiful, sexy and spicy. The taste is too good to believe.”