The renowned scent researcher deciphers youth culture in Singapore and distils it into a unique smell, as part of a series of sensorial encounters with art at this year’s Light to Night Festival
Sissel Tolaas has dedicated her life to the sense of smell and sets out to prove that its capacity know no bounds—one molecule at a time.
For her latest project at this year’s Light to Night Festival: Traces and Echoes, the renowned scent researcher and artist maps the unique smell ID of Singapore’s youth, between the ages of 19 and 29, through the scentscape, eau d’you Who Am I. The project, which is part of a Sensorial Trail of smell, sound and touch at the National Gallery Singapore, highlights the role of smell in one’s identity, and is unlocked through the heat emitted when one touches the wall surfaces.
Based in Berlin, the Norwegian scent artist helms the Re_Search Lab, which is home to over 6,000 smells that she has documented in identical aluminium cans throughout her career. To date, her vast portfolio includes scentscapes for 52 cities seeking to preserve its original essence in this fast-paced society through an olfactory experience, with the latest one concocted one for the eternal city of Rome.
But perhaps her most memorable work was the Beckham Limburger cheese, fermented from the bacteria on football legend David Beckham’s boot, and served to VIP guests at the 2012 London Olympics. Tolaas tells us more about her work.