Inspired by the budding scent art scene studded with artists like Sissel Tolaas and Martynka Wawrzyniak, Goldsmiths’ design student Olivia Clemence has been busy formulating her memories into olfactive experiences. She uses homemade equipment involving steam for extracting the scents. It looks like scent art might be finally taking a very exciting and courageous leap beyond perfumery.
Category Archives: scent stories
deconstructing perfume
The Art of Scent exhibit at New York’s Museum of Art and Design is a foray into how perfumes are born. It is a minimalist yet visually striking exhibit that surveys a brief history of Western perfumery through key fragrances. The twelve fragrances showcased are all scents that were available on the market at some point. Beginning with Guerlain’s Jicky (1889) and ending with Margiela’s Untitled (2010)ach scent represents a particular trend in fragrance.
The first room is an open airy space with twelve yonic wells installed in the wall that emit a motion-sensitive gust of perfumed air. It is a surprisingly gentle way to experience each scent. There are timed privalite displays in the place of plaques to explain the historical significance and composition of each fragrance.
The second room is even more hands on with a long glass table and chairs where visitors can sit and experience a more potent version of the twelve fragrances by dipping scent strips into small vials of the actual perfume in liquid form. At opposite ends of the table there are two options for contributing feedback on the exhibit that is projected in a real-time word cloud on a wall. One is an ipad that captures word associations for each individual experience of the fragrances. The other is a white notebook in which guests may record their personal associations with scent. The wall installation takes visitors through the process of building a fragrance through different modifications. The walls deliver a card for each of the five “mods” of Lancome’s popular fragrance Trésor (1990).
The Art of Scent evokes the wonderfully subjective and ephemeral nature of fragrance in an immersive experience that speaks to all of the five senses. If only there was more of an aural component other than video recordings of interviews. Nonetheless, the exhibit promises an exciting future for multisensorial art made possible by cutting-edge technology.
The Art of Scent is at the Museum of Art and Design, 11, Columbus Circle, NY, NY 10019 until February 24, 2013
scent and creativity
Dutch researchers have discovered a compelling link between creativity and scent during sleep. According to the study, scent has the power to reactivate imagination activities concurrent with the same odor even during sleep.
sf smells
Go check out a new exhibit by San Francisco-based artist Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik. Querida Calle 24 is a multisensorial installation about San Francisco’s lively 24th Street. Opens October 16 at 7pm.
monsieur malle’s scent stories
Here’s a lovely recent interview with olfactory dreamer Frédéric Malle.
scottish scent
UK designer Kate McLean is the creator of sensory maps of cities including Paris, New York, and Newport, RI which engage touch, taste, and smell. Her most recent exhibit put the city of Glasgow on display at the Glasgow Science Centre. The city’s accord includes diesel, foliage, and sausage. Check out her blog on creating sensory maps here.
degree zero of smell
Filmmaker Jacob LaMendola’s video piece Anosmia attempts to convey the unusual experience of the world without a sense of smell.
scent in space
NASA attempt to capture the olfactive experience of space to bring to museum exhibits in the near future.
scented literature
Here are some titles to add to your summer reading list:
Poets and perfumers come together in a recent anthology of fragrant poetry.
Legendary French nose Jean-Claude Ellena has written a memoir and more recently an insider’s look at the fragrance industry.
Another recent memoir by scent writer Denyse Beaulieu.
Alyssa Harad’s makes an account of her self-discovery through scent.
And for the kiddies old and young, Amber Jones’s scratch and sniff voyage through New York is available for purchase here.
olfactory visit to calgary
Those lucky enough to be near Calgary can take the scent-guided tour of the city courtesy of Swerve, the city’s online event and culture guide. The rest of us will take have to take the virtual tour.
Olfactive 