Event 3: AIX Scent Fair

From May 6 to 8, there was an exhibition designated for the display of independent fragrance makers' perfumes. As I was not familiar with what exactly the AIX Scent Fair was going to present, I was undoubtedly surprised by the variety and types of fragrances that were on display. It truly was interesting to see and hear about their ideas behind their creations as well as to ultimately smell them.

Each artist who was present seemed to have his or her own unique background and experience. However, a commonality among them is that they were inspired by objects or concepts that surrounded them and applied them to generate their product. For the two pictures above, these individuals were influenced by the existing scent of landscapes and nature. Reading about the concept behind each creation, I could easily envision myself in their vision as I smelled each perfume. While imagination through words is something people do on a regular basis and have done since they learned a language, the perfumes added a third dimension, which appeared to be the goal of many individuals.

Regarding the third dimension, the pictures above show some of my favorite perfumes, not necessarily due to their aroma but their concept. Each of these artists created fragrances to place the audience in place of another person's artistic creation, including artworks, movies, and music. As the original artists were not able to include an olfactory component to their works, the works of these fragrance makers not only helped to fully appreciate the influential work but also went hand-in-hand to the point that the original became the extra component, not the basis.

As their works relates chemistry to art, the AIX Scent Fair is an example and extension of DESMA 9 as it elucidates how science influences art. By combining certain chemical structures, these artists are able to create the specific fragrances they desire to supply the public similar to the BioTech + Art unit, which included genes. Regarding the event outside the scope of this class, I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the variety of scents that are able to be artificially created. Although I was not able to attend the Scent Lab portion of the exhibition, being able to take part in the exhibit makes me wonder to what extent that would have also helped me see the process of reaching the final product. I would absolutely recommend attending scent fair such as this one and the lab to see another intersection of art and science.