To celebrate the release of the sculpture, Laura and Caleb, invited 29 artists to interpret the humble fruit in their own unique way; as the smell they wanted to create was so mutlilayered, the pair realised that having as many visual voices as possible would be a fitting tribute to the creation. “We wanted the final set of drawings to feel truly varied and to represent a mix of styles, voices, and perspectives,” says Caleb. It’s true, the final 29 show the fruit in all its glory – some zoom in on the mottled colour of their skin, others emphasise their woody stems, while many enhance the bulbous form of their bodies – and the range of techniques on show is vast: from digital dots and ethereal airbrush to collage and swift charcoal lines.
The collaborators include friends, like Noelia Towers who used silver stars stickers – “it almost sparkles on the page!” says Caleb – and Eleanor Wallace, who made her own dye from Jonathan apple skins to use as her as paint, as well as creative powerhouses, like Gay Reineck. “She worked with Saul Bass and Charles Eames during her career, and she has a beautiful series of typographic fruit drawings made in 1967,” says Caleb. “I found them while researching and asked if she might create one of an apple more than fifty years later. I may have actually pulled her out of retirement for this project!” Finally, the invite list was also extended to family, and charmingly so. One apple, craftily created with ice lolly sticks and pipe cleaners, was created by Laura’s four-year-old nephew.
Working as a small two person studio, for Caleb and Laura collaboration has always been a central tenant of Clue, not only because it’s a way for them to “work with people we find interesting and admire”, but because of the range of perspective it brings to the brand. As each scent on its virtual shelf has a visual universe of its own, and “collaborations in things like illustration and photography all layer together with our work in ways we could never create alone,” says Caleb. “Bringing in other artists widens the range of the visuals and lets each project grow into something that feels hopefully bigger than the two of us.” The Every Apple project is a perfect example of that ethos, bringing together multiple voices to make a beautiful body of work that speaks to the everlasting charm of the apple, and the universal nature of smell.
Every Apple can be purchased on the Clue website here. Each one comes with a poster of one of the artist’s apple drawings.