Arts & Humanities
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The Importance of Being Earnest | Nosewash
Creativity and innovation happen in relaxed and critical dialogue. Great ideas come to you in the shower, on a walk, or under the shade of an apple tree say. This earth day I am pleased to share a terrific insight from a good friend and colleague that came up last week when we were casually,…
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2,337 Year Old Nose Musings
One of the more humbling features of human knowledge is the fact that despite our belief in progression, innovation and savvy, voices from 2,337 years ago often feel more relevant now than ever. Especially regarding the mysteries of being human, of consciousness and our sense that gives us the most pause: the olfactory. I dipped…
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Words for Scent & Architecture
Photo: Courtesy of An Ode to Smell Project OLFACTORY MAPPING Definition: 1. (Science) Olfactory mapping is the chemical and physical process of how we interpret a large number of odor stimuli. 2. (Sociology/Art) Olfactory mapping is the process of matching coordinates of physical space(s) to a specific odor. In order to honor the natural smells…
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Words for the Scent Scene
We are grateful this week for an installation curated for the Odorbet by the talented fragrance and beauty writer Carla Seipp. The flavor of the words feel of the moment, and a mix of colloquialisms and industry adjacent street terms. Nothing less from an intrepid freelance fashion, beauty and fragrance journalist, thank you Carla! FREBEL…
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Play is the Highest Form of Research
In this installation we share the importance of play when creating, exploring, researching and making. When the landscape of smell is quickly crowded by expertise, institution or the market it’s an important reminder to invite fresh voices to the table and that true research and innovations begin firmly in play. The Odorbet is an open…
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Fresh Plump Purses
A first galley proof of À la recherche du temps perdu: Du côté de chez Swann with Proust’s handwritten corrections Marcel Proust (MP) has inspired much scholarly dialogue and armchair scholarly references around memory and scent and the nature of art. It’s worth reviewing other direct mentions of scent in his enormous volume “À la…
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Rhinoferocious
Originally published on Aromatica Poetica. Rhinoferocious – a word to describe those who defend perfumery as an art.“He was courageous and bold in his attempts to dismantle the narrow boundaries of perfume as product to elevate people’s understanding of perfume as an art: in a word he was rhinoferocious.” Rhinographies (rhinography) – the study of…
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Amber for the Win!
This installation marks an important shift in the perfume industry, where an entire genre has been renamed out of respect for the fact that a term was outdated and derogatory. I commend colleagues, perfumers and writers for demanding a change, and doing so on no uncertain terms. This gesture by the industry insiders is hopefully…
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Scent as Protagonist
Installation 25: Scent as Protagonist Some words recently culled from the book “Smell of Risk” by Huan Hsu. Chosen to remind us how scent really can be a powerful player in society, race and politics on a global scale. Atmo-orientalism – “A discourse that organizes political and cultural power by tethering olfactory perception to racial…
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Athletes Don’t Leave Your Aryballos at Home!
Aryballos in the form of three cockle shells, 6th century BC (Metropolitan Museum of Art) This week is an installation of Greek words contributed by the Greek perfumer Christina Koutsoudaki. Christina has been a professional perfumer for over 20 years, and originally trained as a chemist at the National University of Athens, Greece and in…
Odorbet 