Lernert & Sander: Smells like Everything

Artists and filmmakers Lernert & Sander create exquisitely detailed conceptual films. Subjects include the smell of everything and the sound effects of fashion.

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Ever since they began collaborating in 2007, Amsterdam-based artists and filmmakers Lernert & Sander (Lernert Engelberts and Sander Plug) have been known for their high conceptual art films, eye-catching installations and keen fashion aesthetic. Some people have even gone so far as to call them the creators of cool. Driven by their cheeky sense of humour, Lernert & Sander’s simple yet stunning approach has earned the duo numerous awards, international accolades and industry-wide recognition. 

One of their most awarded films is The Sound of Cos, featured above. Using props like a basketball on sand and oven gloves against trousers, artists and filmmakers Lernert & Sander recreated the noise that clothes make as you move. An umbrella bursts open to accompany the pop up of a collar against a neck and plungers imitate the noise of buttons in this exquisitely creative film. 

Not only is the film quirky and beautiful, it cleverly diverts the attention from the look of the clothes (or the feel of the fabric) to the sound effects and therefore expands the sensory experience of fashion.

In another film, the duo collects the almost-1400 newly launched perfumes and mix them together to make a cocktail fragrance they call Everything (video below). 

“Our point is, why do you need nearly 1400 new scents in one year?” Mr Engelberts said in an interview with the New York Times. “When we walk into a department store, we don’t know how to choose anymore.”

Lernert & Sander will be speaking at Design Indaba 2017. Book now.  

Everything. from Lernert & Sander on Vimeo.

Watch the Interview with Lernert & Sander