Smell & Tell | Scentscapes on Land, Sea and Out of this World

About this event

Normal breathing is involuntary and ignores constant background odors until something in the air prompts you to home in on a smell like a hound dog fixed on a scent trail. In moments like these, it's not uncommon to find yourself taking sharp, deliberate sniffs to get a better idea of what you're smelling. Learning how to evaluate scents using sensory evaluation techniques utilized by perfumers helps you get the most out of active smelling experiences. So does terminology used in a variety of academic disciplines, but they're not always easy to understand. Four of these terms share a wonderful quality; they bridge the gap between the chemical reason why scents smell the way they do, and the importance of the sense of smell in lived experience. The scent flight for this Smell and Tell is inspired by them. You'll learn about scentscapes (aromatic backdrops particular to indoor and outdoor locations), semiotics (smells as meaningful symbols), atmospheres (the felt, defining moods of scent environments), and headspace technology (capturing living plant aromas for analysis and replication in flavors and fragrances). Spoiler Alert: One of the terms mirrors the sensory ethos of the band Angine de Poitrine, and resonates with fragrance briefs used to guide human and AI-generated perfumes. The Smell and Tell series of art+science programming is led by Michelle Krell Kydd, a trained nose in flavors and fragrance who shares her passion for gastronomy, sensory evaluation, and the perfume arts in Glass Petal Smoke. Smell & Tell builds community through interactions with flavor, fragrance and storytelling. Smell and Tell is presented remotely by Michelle Krell Kydd to an in-person audience. Fragrances and other materials are provided to in-person attendees. The Library was not given permission to provide a stream for this event. L