I have been SO BUSY with work and studies. Guess what, I HAVE AN EXHIBITION coming up!

It is going to be at the Australian High Commission – 20th Nov. So mark your date! I’ll put up the details when the invitation is out.

Well, according to my Dean, it is considered as an “international exhibition” because it is held at the Australian High Comm. Technically speaking, that piece of land is “Australia“. Mm..Cute!

One of my pieces has to do with some of my research on olfactory design, means SCENT.

Did you know that SMELL is ranked the second after sight as importance for the sensory experience. There is so much to learn about how human interacts with scent, both consciously and unconsciously.

Can you imagine how a glass of black ice tea with lime at a beach sunset smells like?

When I asked some of my friends if they noticed the distinctive and unique scent at their homes, most of them said:“NO! My house doesn’t have smell!”. Think again.

You see, a home is not really a home when it is lacked of the “domestic scent“. In another words, it is made up of the people in your house, the detergent you used for laundry, the activities you run (eg. cooking), pet (if any), materials of your furniture and etc. And this combination of scents defines your home. Just as you step into other person’s house, the scent is never the same.

Scent at home could :
1) Tell a story, to motivate and to affect the inhabitant emotionally.

2) Contribute to enhance the inhabitant’s identification with the space and to develop a deep sense of belonging.

3) Modify the representation, enrich and to contradict to a supposed already existing identity of the house (that’s when a new scent is introduced to the home)

4) Redefine a function of space. (eg, kitchen: smells like dried flowers from spring, reminds of one used to arrange dried flowers in the kitchen)

If I could, I would LOVE to have a scent of freshly-baked waffles topped with melting butter and maple syrup on Sunday morning.

Talking about body odour, each person has a unique scent – works like a fingerprint. That was how the Stasi (East German secret police) collected the scent of their suspects and stored them in sealed jars with their names on it. The scent was then given to hunting dogs to hunt down a suspect or fugitive.

So the other day, I had a conversation with a friend regarding this project of mine. I mentioned that it was quite interesting to find out how people relate a scent to a person.

He then asked me:“What smell do I remind you of?”

“Mm…you reminded me of earthly smell. Dry tobacco leaves, soil…something that describes..BROWN!”

I have no idea why or how I concluded as such but, this has to do with my impression on that person. For him, I thought I would expect “strawberry or cherry”. In fact, he said:“Lavender…and the lip gloss that you have been using. Wait! I think Tea tree oil too!

*My Body Shop Strawberry lip gloss just “emits” such strong sweet smell that it often fills the car when I use it.*

“Why Tea Tree??!! That’s so clinical…AND sounds so… DISINFECTIVE!!”

“Well, there was a time that you liked to carry them in your bag. You applied some on your palms to inhale when you had sinusitis.”

True…because SCENT is very powerful in evoking memories and emotions. It is highly interpretive, depending on your personal experiences. That’s also why a victim could be very traumatised when he/she smells a particular scent years after a tragedy when that scent was present at the scene.

Smell is such a mysterious “thing”. It can’t be touched but you definitely know its presence. Sometimes, people can only recall a presence (of thing/human/activity), when there is an absence of scent.

Posted under Life documentaries , Thoughts & musings | [5] Comments