Event #3: Artisan Independent Experimetal (AIX) Scent Fair

Showcases at the Fair

On May 7th, I attended the AIX Scent Fair at the Hammer Museum. Co-presented by The institute of Art and Olfaction and Luckyscent/Scent Bar, the three-day scent fair contains a myriad of events and activities, such as a Kickoff Keynote & Panel, Workshops, Award Show, and more. During our visit, none of these events are on-going and we only visited the 43 showcases on the third floor of the museum.

Since this is a fair regarding the art of fragrances, it was quite an different experience than other art fairs I have attended. The fragrance makers are all kind enough to share with us the inspiration behind their work, and it is fascinating to see how they chose different scents to portray their ideas. The way they select the components of the fragrances are not just based on how they can complement each other to produce a pleasant aroma but also how well they fit into the story they want to tell through the fragrance.

Douglas Bender and I

Another aspect I found interesting regarding the exhibits are how they are decorated so deliberately to help with the story telling. From the table stands to the tester design, it is easy to tell how much effort was put into the planning process.While some opt to let visitors test the fragrance out of the bottle, others chose to put the fragrance on other objects. The showcase that I found the most remarkable is the one by Douglas Bender from Charenton Macerations. The three fragrance he brought to the showcase are 'Asphalt Rainbow', 'Christopher Street', and 'Eye, Hatshepsut' as part of his Nothing2See piece. As he was telling the story of each fragrance, visitors are shown the contents of a box and smell the fragrance in it. The boxes are great visual aids that helped us understand the meaning of the fragrance.

Although the fragrances showcased in the fair are not the most aromatic, the stories behind them make them the most remarkable ones around. I highly recommend this exhibition to anyone interested in an atypical way of storytelling (who is not sensitive or allergic to fragrance and perfumes).

A tip for those who plan on attending the fair: the fragrance can cause headaches after a while, it helps to bring and smell a can of coffee bean in-between trials to neutralize the fragrance and lessen the headache.

Showcases at the Fair