Portfolio of Work
Bespoke scent making
Merle is a conceptual designer working with scent as a material to tell stories. Stories about where we come from and where we'd like to go. Scent might seem to be invisible, it finds a direct translation in our body and our brain. A translation that can be made very tangible by our own associations, individual and collective..
Lingua Planta
For a very long time now humans have placed themselves above other species. Relatively new research has shown plants do communicate and are exchanging complex information with each other, with insects, animals, even humans.
This is the language of scent; Lingua Planta. Lingua Planta offers plant lovers a new perspective on greenery via natural perfume. A journey of attention has been put into finding the finest aromatics to ensure a high-quality product that is also friendly to earth.
What's in a tear
What if a spectrum of emotions could be captured?
I discovered how to extract the minerals from tears and transform these into a pearl thing I call tear stones. This physical manifestation of the transmutation of matter is then set in a piece of jewelry. In this way you can capture tears at a special moment and keep them with you as a timeless reminder of a story once lived. The project was based on the way we deal with tears in public. How we are sometimes embarrassed by a thing that is actually shows we are human, dealing with emotion just like everybody else. I believe in showing these emotions we can find a way to connect and empathize with each other.
Null Island
Scent design in collaboration with artist Deborah Mora. Welcome to Null Island, a digital Garden of Eden where you can immerse yourself in a technologically mediated memory of nature. The title of the work refers to the coordinates where this island is imagined to exist: it is the cyber myth of an imaginary island, now becoming flesh. In the digital realm, the null value is automatically attributed when data are absent. Images, files, and registrations uploaded without a specified geolocation are therefore always associated with the location ‘0,0’. That is the spot where we can find Null Island, a safe haven where our threatened natural world can thrive forever.
Sound Design by Igor Dubreucq
Scent Design by Studio Merle Bergers
Archive
Previous work done in and outside Design Academy Eindhoven 2013-2018
Microbiota TO GO
Microbiota To Go highlights the possibilities of altering our health by aiding the millions of microorganisms that live in the gut. The project speaks of a wider need to personalize our diets and tailor our food consumption.
After sequencing the DNA of your finger, your Microbiota will be mapped. Based on this data, a probiotic concoction is being produced and micro-encapsulated. A mood booster can be added and together with the probiotics will be misted to be inhaled, but also via the skin it can be absorbed, where it will happily mingle and benefit your healthy micro-organisms.
Special thanks to Chloe Rutzerveld and Judith Ofner
Design by Sjoerd Koopmans / Rich Dust
Animation: Jan-Roelof de Vries
Technique: Sjoerd Legue and Hans Jansen
Scientific backbone: Koen Venema, gut flora specialist and professor at Wageningen University.
