Fully Booked!
Join our resident designer, Marissa Zappas, MA Anthropology, Perfumer, for a special hands-on workshop series on the art of perfume making! There are limited spots available for this series so register quickly!
Course description:
This course is an introduction to the art of perfumery. Optional readings will be provided, where students can learn more about the history of perfume and scent design. We will explore basic notes, accords and olfactive language and discuss how scent has influenced and been experienced by society.
Each student will create a proposal for a final perfume which will be due after our second meeting. Why did you choose each raw material and what is the olfactive idea behind it? Each student will have to send a sample of the fragrance to one other student and myself by the last class. Sample vials will be provided.
Olfactive kit which includes oils, alcohol, pipettes, a scale and a beaker will be provided and sent to you remotely.
Students will also have the option to design their own perfume label with the help of Design Center staff.
Readings:
A majority of the optional readings will be from The Smell Culture Reader by Jim Drobnick and available in PDF format via Google Drive. If you’d like to purchase the book that may be more convenient. The other book we will read from is called A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman.
Week 1: 9/18/20
In class: Discuss the olfactive pyramid and the basic structure of a fragrance.
Optional reading: The New Calculus of Olfactory Pleasure, Alain Corbin
Week 2: 10/9/20
In class: Discuss basic notes and accords and how to combine them as well as measuring and using the scale.
Optional reading: Accords and Discords, Luca Turin
Queer Smells, Fragrances of Late Capitalism or Scents of Subversion? Mark Graham
Week 3: 11/13/20
In class: Discuss olfactive ideas, finalize and go over any questions.
Optional reading: The Breath of God, Sacred Histories of Scent by Constance Classen
Week 4: 12/4/20
In class: Presentation and discussion of final perfumes.
Reading: A Natural History of the Senses, Smell, Diane Ackerman