digging
This edition of The Sense & Society, Issue 03, features
The Sensory Dimensions of Gardening, by Christopher Tilley
a topic that I find interesting of course and -surprise, surprise!- the sense of smell plays a role in gardening, more prominently for women, underlining my prejudices of brutal men digging and sweating, harvesting big things like potatoes and of delicate women in rose veils, flying from rose to lily, sniffing and enjoying the garden beauties.
Well, the article starts with -An important development in material culture studies in recent years has been the growing realization of the significance of the multisensorial qualities of artifacts as a key to understanding ther meaning and significance- which brought me in one line from women in veil and potatoes digging men to perfume packaging and beyond.
Thus, a perfume’s multisensorial quality is the key to understanding the meaning of it. I would go further; understanding should be translated into appreciation, like and dislike (And, pardon my commercial attitude here…it might well be the final key to clients buying!) In the end, before we even got a chance to dig our nose into any perfume bottle’s content: The keys to grasp it and appreciate it or dislike it are already given:
- The visual impression
- The tactile impression
- Maybe also an accoustic impression
I am sure there are billions spent to render this sensual first contact as pleasing as possible on one hand and on the other hand, best fitting with the particular client profile, a particular segment that is addressed with a fragrance. So, here I sit with my little box and my 30 ml Orris flacon…and wonder about the senses and how my Orris packaging concept addresses them… you should find some pictures of how I intend to address at least the visual and tactile senses hopefully by tomorrow.
Finally, what sets gardening apart: It involves all senses, in a time where many of us deprived ourselves from these impressions. When have you sniffed fresh earth the last time, by simply digging your nose into it?
Happy digging…
October 25th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Ah, such amazing purfume foreplay! I did not have the chance to sniff this scent but I adore PG’s Iris Taizo and OJ’s Orris Noir but neither I would consider an Iris HG for me. I am counting the days until Nov. 15th so I can break that “never buy unsniffed” rule (again). I am giddy with anticipation. A girl’s gotta do……
Thank you Andy, for sharing the gift of your artistry with us.
October 25th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
Dear Andy,
I find it more and more pleasurable to read your post (and they were never not pleasurable so it is really something) - they are getting on a higher and higher philosophical level - transfering the craft of perfumery into the artistic universe of a pure art form - of a different sense (the olfactory), of a different quality (sensually emotional). Thank you for these readings!!!
Hugs,
K.
October 26th, 2006 at 8:20 am
Dear Anne
Never say never again.. .I just hope you won’t be disappointed. Right now I sit in front of a white paper (Baldini like) sniffing the matured and diluted Orris. Ok, I know, I am cruel now: I love it! ;-)
I hope you will too.
Dear Konstantin
Thank you very much for your nice lines. I just hope that I am not flying off one day on cloud number 17 (that’s the philosophy cloud) ;-)
Have a wonderful day!