Interview with Nobi Shioya of S-Perfume

by: Serguey Borisov

Sergey Borisov:
What is the philosophy behind S-Perfume?

Nobi Shioya:
Hmm, philosophy … sounds too serious. I just wanted to get the best out of each perfumer that I liked to work with, and that’s all. I didn’t care at all whether S-ex or100% Love sold well or not but did care a lot about the shock value of each fragrance since each perfumer that I chose to work with had some sort of shock value to the personality. Think about a person like Sophia Grojsman, man, she’s jaw-dropping!

Sergey Borisov:
Why did you stop with sculptures?

Nobi Shioya:
I went through a pretty long period of midlife crisis [laugh]. Now I’m back in creative mode as a potter in Japan.

Sergey Borisov:
Your ex-assistant started a new perfume brand. Were you his master?

Nobi Shioya:
Are you kidding me, absolutely not! We were like good friends with completely different social backgrounds. Carlos is a quick learner and doesn’t like to waste anything. I am glad that all the things that I left in Brooklyn were recycled.

Sergey Borisov:
Why did you separate from Carlos?

Nobi Shioya:
Separate … what do you mean?? I just wanted to stay in Japan for a while and was able to leave all my stuff (and some responsibilities) in Brooklyn thanks to Carlos.

Sergey Borisov:
What are your different visions of brand development or perfume as a piece of art?

Nobi Shioya:
I hear that Carlos doesn't want to believe perfume or scent is art [laugh], but what can I say? Carlos has amazing skills fixing old masterpieces but was never an artist. This is very simple; when a "legitimate" artist says something is art, no matter how absurd the idea is, it becomes art. When Chandler Burr says perfume is art, anyone can reject his idea since Chandler was never an artist. But if a 23 year-old artist shits in the middle of a gallery and tells the audience that the smell of her shit is art, then the smell of her shit suddenly becomes divine art like the aura of the Virgin Mary. It sounds like an arrogant joke, but this is how art has evolved through many centuries. By the way, I don't recall ever declaring that S-Perfume was art, but I would be flattered if someone thought S-Perfume was art. So why is it that S-Perfume can be art? It’s because I wouldn’t mind someone thinking so, and most importantly S-Perfume had nothing to do with making money when I started it. At the time, I just had to do it like I had to eat or shit everyday.
 

Sergey Borisov:
How and why was the S-Perfume design changed?

Nobi Shioya:
Are you asking about the new packaging? Don’t you think it looks much nicer than before? I absolutely adore what a good designer can do. When it comes to making things look nice, we fine artists are totally pathetic! I have to say S-Perfume is fortunate. S-Perfume became like an orphan when I left Brooklyn and was kept at an orphanage ran by my former studio assistant, Carlos Kusubayashi. Then a few years later, a gentleman from Milan came to see me in Japan and told me that he wanted to adopt S-Perfume. He told me he would provide nice clothes and a warm home for the child. Of course I immediately accepted his offer, and here we are!

 

[The new packaging, logo and graphics were done by Agenzia del Contemporaneo, Creative Partner Agency of Intertrade Group.—SB]

Sergey Borisov:
How much does your nationality have to do with the type of perfumes you do?

Nobi Shioya:
When you are older you become a bit nostalgic and sentimental. I have to say there is a generation gap between the two original S-Perfume fragrances (S-ex, 100% Love) and the four new S-Perfume fragrances (Himiko, Kamakura, 1499, Musk S), which have launched recently. Each of the four new fragrances reflects the strength of each perfumer who created the fragrance, but I wanted the theme of each new fragrance to carry my cultural background rather than the perfumer’s. This is a big change from before.

Sergey Borisov:
How do you create your perfumes?

Nobi Shioya:
I’m a minimalist and it’s simple. I chat with a perfumer and smell the perfumer’s ideas. I will give my feedback but let the perfumer come up with a creative solution to move forward with the development. It’s the repetition of this process until I smell “This is it!”

Sergey Borisov:
What are your next projects to see and to smell?

Nobi Shioya:
To See: I’m working on a public art project for a depopulated village in Japan, but not many people from other countries will be able to see the work unfortunately.

To Smell: I’m working on the 7th fragrance for S-Perfume with an old friend of mine whom I’ve never worked with before. This is going to be interesting since I have never worked with a female perfumer on S-Perfume other than the great Sophia Grojsman. I had worked with Annick Menardo and Annie Buzantian for my art projects, but working on S-Perfume with a perfumer is a different process. It takes much more time than working on an art scent.

Sergey Borisov:
How do you see your future?

Nobi Shioya:
Being a grandpa if I live long enough (laugh). I could only think about the future of my kids. Probably because I feel guilty somewhere not being with them in the US all the time … artists are the selfish bastards.

I think that we have managed to clarify everything in these two interviews with Carlos and Nobi. And right in the middle of it I found in the news that there is another player named "What We Do Is Secret (aka Shaping Room)," a creative studio in New York, which calls itself responsible for creating fragrances for A Lab On Fire and S-Perfume. The studio has launched a fragrance named Monoscent G, which consists of 20% Galaxolide Super, musk aromatic material, and 80% alcohol. Warning: 29% of the people on the planet simply cannot smell it.

According to George Cantarini, PR-director of Intertrade Group, her company has no relation to this project ... Well, let's look further!