Lant, 2024.
Lant is a speculative fragrance project born from a personal moment of discomfort—a negative sexual experience involving urine that left Barrington questioning his own desirability. Rather than internalising the shame, he turned to design as a way of reclaiming the narrative. Lant became a tongue-in-cheek attempt to flip the script: if his body could be reduced to something unwanted, why not repackage it into something luxurious, seductive—even sellable?
Presented at One Sheet, a group exhibition where designers were asked to create something using a single material, Lant was bottled in sleek glass perfume vessels and displayed like any other desirable good. The visual language of high-end fragrance contrasted sharply with the rawness of its origin, encouraging viewers to reflect on their own perceptions of beauty, disgust, and worth.
Both sincere and satirical, Lant walks a line between vulnerability and provocation. It reclaims a moment of rejection, turns it into a commodity, and dares the audience to desire it.
Does my piss smell good?
Through controlled experiments with diet, Barrington altered the scent of his urine to produce a collection of perfumes with notes of lavender, vanilla, and fish. The process parodied the way bodies—especially queer bodies—are often curated, modified, and marketed to fit impossible standards. Why not go all the way and live through a product?