A custom incense made for Problem Library in partnership with Venture.
This scent was designed to evoke the same deep curiosity, evolving conversations, and sense of craft that Problem Library values. As the scent evolves, it mirrors how ideas take shape and how our community has embodied growth and exploration.
Primary notes: Cedar, Labdanum, Tonka
Named after our studio space in the Inner Sunset, Twelve Eighty-eight was developed through close collaboration with our dear friend Dapo Oni and his brand Venture.
The conversation began during our first collaboration in 2023. As we continued working together, the project evolved through the texts, artworks, and key moments that have shaped Problem Library’s way of thinking and being.
In Spring 2025 Dapo led a workshop for our A Creative Life series where he taught the fundamentals of how scent works in the body and how a fragrance is structured. Through a hands-on engagement with early ingredients for Twelve Eighty-eight, the Problem Library community helped identify the notes that felt most true to the pine-lined walls of 1288 15th Ave.
Over months of experimentation and refinement, Dapo used the gallery at 1288 15th Ave as his laboratory to mix the final Twelve Eighty-eight blend. With help from some Problem Library friends, Dapo hand-dipped incense sticks and set them out to dry in the space. The scent saturated our pine walls and drifted out onto 15th Avenue, briefly turning the whole building into part of the fragrance itself.
What remains is a scent born from the life of 1288 15th Ave and inseparable from the place and people that bring it to life.
Custom incense holders were carved from Brazilian rosewood salvaged from a circa-1850s barn in Brazil. A first set of five were hand-cut and shaped, and all found homes during the Twelve Eighty-eight launch at Too Much Information #006. Future editions are still under consideration.
Scent by Dapo Oni
Photography by Jeff Masamori
Packaging by Jeff Masamori & Dapo Oni
Wooden incense holders by Jeff Masamori,
Blake Conway, and Jess Wilson
Words by Dapo Oni & Daniel Lucas
Input and direction from the Problem Library team:
Tamara Chu, Daniel Lucas, Jeff Masamori, and Blake Conway
Special thanks to: Alice Barreras, Sofia Belen Criswell, Steph Chang, Nico Lown Heitz, Toto Honniball, Aaron Hui, You Li, Nadine Macapgal, Elliot Raderman, and James Zelnick
