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Repository 231: God Nose | The Radical Position of the Immaterial in Olfactory Art
Consequently, everything that concerns creativity is invisible, is a purely spiritual substance. And this work, with this invisible substance, is what I call “social sculpture.” This work with invisible substance is my domain, at first, there is nothing to see. Subsequently, when it becomes corporeal it appears initially in the form of a language. -Joseph Beuys Olfactory art’s immaterial qualities, you cannot see it, disrupts systems of representation. This silent and borderless focus is a radical reaction to the hyper-retinal,…
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Repository 228: Elephants and Smelly Art
I am honored to be a panelist on today’s Digital Scent Festival Panel on Scent + Art + Design. While the topic is humungous and seriously multi-faceted, it’s terrific to have this dialogue with a broader audience. Here is a resource list to help the curious get started on a pilgrimage to discover materials and practices. Thankfully some have vibrant online presences: A Library of Olfactive Material, Glasgow Scotland Aroma Workshop, Chicago Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, Berkeley, CA Experimental…
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Repository 211: Nº2 Scent Launch | An Homage to the Pencil
I’m thrilled to announce the unveiling of my latest project and collaboration with artist Rory Sparks, a scent inspired by the pencil! If you are in Portland, we will have a pop up this Friday at the Working Library from 6-9 PM. It is also available for purchase online at my shop. Here’s the back story of the collaboration: Inspired by the humble pencil, artists Rory Sparks and Catherine Haley Epstein have created an homage in scent. The scent was…
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Repository 210: Peter de Cupere’s 20—Year Scent Art Survey Book and the Quest to Manifest
Peter de Cupere’s career is full, diverse and now blossoming. Prior to his diving into art full stop he had a career that included the Sturm und Drang of 9-5 business. Luckily he embraced art fully, and quickly incorporated scent into his oeuvre. For over 20 years de Cupere has taken a devil may care, smell me roar attitude to incorporating scent in his art installations and projects. Thankfully there is now a giant, almost 500-page monograph, including scented pages,…
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Repository 204: Copyright and the Five Senses | How to See Smell as an Artistic Expression
There is no “must” in art, because art is free. – Kandinsky As an American, a creative thinker, and someone keen on making a living with her creativity I’ve been warned to review the concepts inherent of copyright in order to protect my “intellectual property”, and to be wary of people with more resources than me as they can swoop in, take my ideas and run away with them. I get this; however I still don’t know when a veteran artist,…
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Repository 203: Scented Writing Award | Because the Art of Smell Belongs at the Fine Art Table
I’m excited to share that I was awarded a 2017 Perfumed Plume Award last week in NYC, among many talented writers. I attended the event*, not thinking I would receive an award, and mostly curious about the good work and dedication these writers are doing regarding fragrance. And of course hoping to meet more people in the industry to understand a little more about the visions and goals of the publications and supporters of this independent writing prize. There were 10…
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Repository 197: Primal Art | Notes on the Medium of Scent
The following article was published today at Temporary Art Review. I’m honored to be a contributor to their publication, and if you have not browsed the writings there, check it out. Meanwhile on scent art: Art is in transition: that is one certain fact. And it is one more reason why it would be vain to attempt anything in the nature of pontifical judgement on its immediate manifestations. We should be content with the fact that art is alive –…
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Repository 192: On Forgetting Project Headed to LA | Olfactory Art
I’m honored to be participating in the inaugural AIX Artisan Independent Experimental Scent Fair at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles! Next week I will be presenting my fragrance for the project “On Forgetting | Filing the Flask”. I am among some incredibly talented perfumers doing some terrific, innovative work in the field of niche perfume. Please join me! Many, many thanks to the good people at The Institute for Art & Olfaction for their support of my work, and…
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Repository 169: Perfume No. 31 | How to Scent an Exhibition
I just received a package of reconnaissance for my ongoing scent, parfumerie and all things alchemical project. The most intriguing was a recent “art exhibit” fragrance launched by JCrew. They did not go the anemic grass and floral bomb route as other mid-tier retailers have done in the past. Instead they went a more intellectual route by collaborating with a fragrance boutique “Arquiste”, and based the fragrance on the “Exhibition by 31 Women” by Peggy Guggenheim in 1943. That’s right,…
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Repository 167: Fragrance Wunderkammer | Learning from Master Mandy Aftel
People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. – Albert Einstein As stated in my last post on learning my olfactory alphabet, I’ve been on a quest to learn the art of perfumery so I can design a fragrance on forgetting. Forgetting is indeed an illusion, and most definitely wearing a fragrance that makes you forget is an illusion. Impossible one might say. Though I’m persisting…
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