L’Oréal Luxe has entered into an exclusive partnership with new artificial intelligence (AI) art museum Dataland to create an exhibition which blends visual art with responsive olfactory.
The French beauty giant’s luxury division has collaborated with the new omni-sensory museum of AI arts and digital ecosystem in Los Angeles, US, on its inaugural exhibition ‘Machine Dreams: Rainforest’, which opens for eight months on 20 June.
As the museum’s founding Olfactory Partner, L’Oréal Luxe has created 12 avant-garde, rainforest-inspired olfactive imprints – utilising Dataland’s Large Nature Model to visualise environmental data – which will be experienced by visitors as “living scents”.
Dataland, co-founded by Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç, is a 20,000sqft facility which features five multi-sensory galleries where AI, data visualisation and human interaction is said to merge to create ever-evolving "data paintings".
Drawing from Refik Anadol Studio’s Large Nature Model, which uses advanced computing to visualise billions of environmental data points, L’Oréal’s Fragrance Métier leveraged its fragrance model to craft these 12 imprints.
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The scents are released at the exhibition via dataland’s smart-diffuser devices, which claim to react to the artworks and the visitor’s presence.
“I have always deeply admired Refik Anadol's visionary artistic work,” said Cyril Chapuy, President, L'Oréal Luxe.
“I am incredibly proud that L'Oréal Luxe is collaborating with him on Dataland, placing olfaction at the very centre of the museum and pushing the boundaries of unexpected fragrance creation.”
Scent of Rain, for example, is an imprint said to deliver a hyper-realistic atmosphere of humid earth after rain, featuring the characteristic petrichor accord, headspace-captured and earthy patchouli facets.
Olfactive imprint Scent of Data, meanwhile, is said to blend ‘clean’ musks and aldehydes to replicate the algorithmic pulsation of code, scenting the "mind" of the machine.
A look inside Dataland's upcoming 'Machine Dreams: Rainforest' exhibition in partnership with L’Oréal Luxe
“Reaffirming its unrivalled authority in luxury fragrance, L’Oréal Luxe moves scent out of the traditional bottle and into a permanent cultural institution,” read a company statement.
“In this living museum, touch, taste, sight, sound and scent amplify each other in a continuous, omni-sensory dialogue, triggering genuine emotions and profound memories.”
‘The Machine Dreams: Rainforest’ exhibition runs from 20 June 2026 to 31 Jan 2027.
L’Oréal’s involvement in the experience is part of the company’s broader strategy to embrace rapidly advancing AI technology and bridge high-technology with human emotion.
“Fragrance is the ultimate language of emotion, a direct bridge to the soul that transcends reason,” said Karine Lebret, Fragrance Métier International Director, L’Oréal Groupe.
“In response to Refik and Efsun’s vision, our L’Oréal Fragrance Designers have shattered traditional boundaries to craft unfiltered sensory truths.
“Within Dataland, we unveil the technical precision of our Métier through 'immersive scents' to leave a powerful, indelible emotional imprint.”
Anadol said the partnership is a “breakthrough” which is “pushing the boundaries of what art can be”.
He added: “By combining artworks with a unique fragrance model, we are no longer just visualising data, we are breathing life into it.
“I am thrilled to share this unique dialogue between human sensory experiences and machine intelligence with the world.”
Users can join the pre-sale for early access tickets to the exhibition here.
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