11.10.21

After speaking with my tutor I realised I needed something that'll link my projects together and I want the aroma work to be that. With what I'm currently working on I feel the oil aspect of the scent work is something that I can use with all of them while I'm still playing with what I wanna do with the aroma. To help me develop my thinking about how I use scents I've been looking into 'Olfactory Art' and perfumery as a whole. I want the aroma to be as purposeful as everything else I'm doing so I want to not only take from the recipe of holy anointing oil but look at how and why other scents have been used throughout history. I want to start experimenting with how the oil works with some of the materials I'm using such as twine, latex and ceramic. I expect the only one to do something interesting is with the twine as I feel it'll be not to dissimilar to Davinia-Ann Robinson's work 'Plasticised Sensation' in its materialistic value. 

M Dougherty Forest Bath 2021

Olfactory Art

Olfactory art is an art form that uses scents as a medium and includes perfume as well as other applications of scent. The art form has been a recognised genre since at least 1980 however in 1938, the poet Benjamin Péret roasted coffee behind screens at the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme which was orchestrated by Marcel Duchamp, and was possibly one of the first true examples of olfactory art. Althought usually large in scale Olfactory works by Japanese artist Takako Saito are smaller in scale. In Spice Chess (1965), the chess pieces are replaced by little wooden boxes containing spices, while in Smell Chess (1965) each figurine is represented by a vial containing different perfumed liquids.

Takako Saito Smell Chess 1965