The Scent of asphalt | Scenting place and the Making of Fragranced Environments
Place is distinct from space — it’s a terminus of locality, it’s where you are, what you are, and — in your consciousness — presence. Being present is paying attention. And scenting brings one to a feeling of sentience in the center of your experience — fragrance can be the strongest context of memory. Sisell Tolaas sprays her wrist liberally with what she calls Guy No. 3. “I wear it to parties,” she says. S&M Guy and Guy No. 3 were derived from the sweat of two of the nine men who were the subject of Tolaas’ 2006 exhibit the FEAR of Smell — the Smell of FEAR at MIT’s List Visual Arts Center.