S Surface: Design for Scent Sensitivities in Public Spaces
Channel: The Institute for Art and Olfaction
Date: 2020-08-06

In this talk, S Surface (they, them) explores the complexities of working with scent in the public sphere. S is chemically injured, and fragrance can cause severe reactions such as nausea, bleeding and headaches. And yet, with a Shinto upbringing, the appreciation of scent/incense is important in S’s Japanese heritage.  Moreover, as a person of color, S has experienced discrimination based on assumptions about how “you people” smell (as have many fellow PoC). Negotiating these complexities, S has been developing the guidelines for their government workplace’s scent-free policy, while also running an art gallery where some individuals present fragrance as their art form. This talk will share their research into what’s worked and what hasn’t. While honoring scent as an art form, the talk will also solicit ideas and connections for how to prioritize disability justice.
S Surface is a Seattle-based urbanist, designer, educator, and curator. With the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Surface is the curatorial lead for ARTS at King Street Station, a gallery, performance space, and artist residency where communities of color can create and present their work. Surface was previously co-curator of The Alice, an artist-run gallery. At Design in Public, Surface was director of the Seattle Design Festival. Previously, Surface was an architectural associate at super-interesting!, and editor at Columbia University GSAPP’s Volume Architecture Journal. Before entering the architecture and curatorial fields, Surface designed packaging and created still-life and product photography for luxury fragrances. They earned the M.Arch from Yale School of Architecture and the BFA in Integrated Design from Parsons School of Design. 

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ABOUT ESS
A friendly, relaxed and conversational meeting of olfactory artists, the Experimental Scent Summit is an annual opportunity for participants to share their work while openly discussing the challenges of working with scent. All this and more in an unrestrained, non-competitive, supportive environment. ESS is a program presented by The Institute for Art and Olfaction and Smell Lab.