Perfume Fountain for Humanity

Anne McClain

The Humanity project will marry the traditional and modern purposes of perfumery with a socially conscious act, in order to show the profound psychological and physiological impact scent can have.

Fortunately, a great deal of attention is paid to social awareness today. Companies such as Tom’s Shoes, Pangea Organics, and the Grameen Bank all act to promote positive change. However, scent is often a missing component in sensory experience, both in art and in social movements.

Perfumes and other scented products have been used since ancient times as items of luxury, refinement, ritual, and remedy. The earliest perfumers we know of are Ancient Egyptians. The Egyptian Queen Hatsheput reportedly sent a fleet of ships to Punt, modern day Somalia, to bring back myrrh seedlings to plant at her temple. During the rise of the Roman Empire, perfume was so widely used as to have scented doves perfume the air at feasts. Aromatherapy, the practice of using aromatic plants as healing medicines, developed in India centuries ago. One can still find Amazonian perfumeros, shamans who specialize in perfumes. Yet despite the rich history of perfume’s various uses, today’s perfume industry is singularly marketed towards luxury and superficiality.

In January of 2009 I will be moving to Grasse, in southern France, to attend the Grasse Institute of Perfumery for one year, to learn the techniques of modern perfumery. Grasse is widely considered the perfume capital of the world; since the 18th century over two-thirds of the perfume industry’s raw materials have come from this small town and many perfumers have trained here. While in Grasse, I will learn about both synthetic and natural materials. In addition, I will spend time outside of the school studying aromatherapy and the inherent healing and transformative effects of natural plant materials. I will do research to find precisely the right ingredients which will have the desired effects of compassion, love, and meditation, to include in the Humanity project.

During the summer of 2009 I will travel to the city of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and spend one week volunteering at the Casa de los Angeles (www.casadelosangeles.org), teaching art at a day care center for children of single mothers. This act will also serve as a tribute to a friend of mine who died in a car accident. In 2003, she volunteered at the Casa de los Angeles and wrote of her experience, “I want to work with children..and do something to somehow improve their lives. I know that sometimes that means simply being 'present' to them..sharing a hug, holding them, smiling with them. We don't always have to do the big things to make a difference. If in my time of working with them I can benefit their families and the community in which they live I will be grateful.”

Upon my return to Grasse from Mexico, I will begin the creation of a scent inspired by the spirit of San Miguel de Allende, and informed by the desired aromatherapeutic effects. The resulting scent will take the form of a perfumed water to be presented in a fountain, a place of gathering often found in town squares (and found in both Grasse, where the fountain and flower market share outdoor space, and San Miguel de Allende, where it is called El Jardin, or The Garden). The fountain will be filled with the perfumed water and be a place for communing, contemplation, and reflection.

The true definition of the word inspire is to inhale. The french verb sens means both to smell and to feel, and no sense is better at inspiring your imagination and conjuring memory than that of smell. Although everyone is encouraged to join me in Mexico (I will be sending invitations to the Patron-Capitalists as well as friends), anyone can experience the alchemical process which will take place in which the scent of the perfume will allow the one who experiences it to invoke the time and place.

Perfume Fountain for Humanity

Anne McClain

The Humanity project will marry the traditional and modern purposes of perfumery with a socially conscious act, in order to show the profound psychological and physiological impact scent can have.

Fortunately, a great deal of attention is paid to social awareness today. Companies such as Tom’s Shoes, Pangea Organics, and the Grameen Bank all act to promote positive change. However, scent is often a missing component in sensory experience, both in art and in social movements.

Perfumes and other scented products have been used since ancient times as items of luxury, refinement, ritual, and remedy. The earliest perfumers we know of are Ancient Egyptians. The Egyptian Queen Hatsheput reportedly sent a fleet of ships to Punt, modern day Somalia, to bring back myrrh seedlings to plant at her temple. During the rise of the Roman Empire, perfume was so widely used as to have scented doves perfume the air at feasts. Aromatherapy, the practice of using aromatic plants as healing medicines, developed in India centuries ago. One can still find Amazonian perfumeros, shamans who specialize in perfumes. Yet despite the rich history of perfume’s various uses, today’s perfume industry is singularly marketed towards luxury and superficiality.

In January of 2009 I will be moving to Grasse, in southern France, to attend the Grasse Institute of Perfumery for one year, to learn the techniques of modern perfumery. Grasse is widely considered the perfume capital of the world; since the 18th century over two-thirds of the perfume industry’s raw materials have come from this small town and many perfumers have trained here. While in Grasse, I will learn about both synthetic and natural materials. In addition, I will spend time outside of the school studying aromatherapy and the inherent healing and transformative effects of natural plant materials. I will do research to find precisely the right ingredients which will have the desired effects of compassion, love, and meditation, to include in the Humanity project.

During the summer of 2009 I will travel to the city of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and spend one week volunteering at the Casa de los Angeles (www.casadelosangeles.org), teaching art at a day care center for children of single mothers. This act will also serve as a tribute to a friend of mine who died in a car accident. In 2003, she volunteered at the Casa de los Angeles and wrote of her experience, “I want to work with children..and do something to somehow improve their lives. I know that sometimes that means simply being 'present' to them..sharing a hug, holding them, smiling with them. We don't always have to do the big things to make a difference. If in my time of working with them I can benefit their families and the community in which they live I will be grateful.”

Upon my return to Grasse from Mexico, I will begin the creation of a scent inspired by the spirit of San Miguel de Allende, and informed by the desired aromatherapeutic effects. The resulting scent will take the form of a perfumed water to be presented in a fountain, a place of gathering often found in town squares (and found in both Grasse, where the fountain and flower market share outdoor space, and San Miguel de Allende, where it is called El Jardin, or The Garden). The fountain will be filled with the perfumed water and be a place for communing, contemplation, and reflection.

The true definition of the word inspire is to inhale. The french verb sens means both to smell and to feel, and no sense is better at inspiring your imagination and conjuring memory than that of smell. Although everyone is encouraged to join me in Mexico (I will be sending invitations to the Patron-Capitalists as well as friends), anyone can experience the alchemical process which will take place in which the scent of the perfume will allow the one who experiences it to invoke the time and place.