This month marked the first time in two years that Perfume as Practice was side-lined in favour of another project. But, as Scents of Our Time gathered momentum in the form of a residency, Perfume as Practice wasn’t totally absent […]
Created during my residency at Orchard Square, Sheffield last September as a mere piece of mise en scène, I feel as though Poison Bible has not been afforded the attention it deserves as a stand alone piece of work as […]
Last weekend I was part of a group exhibition at the Old Holy Trinity Church, Wentworth called ‘Measure’ – which looks at the human soul. My own offering was a scented narrative that suggests you can weigh your soul against […]
Exhibiting at Platforms Project involved invigilating in our exhibition space 8 hours a day for 4 days. As such, it afforded me a lot of time, and I sought to utilise that time effectively to contemplate and theorise on new […]
The more stuff you are doing, the less time you have to write about it. That’s a saying, isn’t it? Well if it isn’t it should be. Over the last 10 days I have been so embroiled by artistic activity […]
Last week I made a bespoke perfume based on coffee. Yes. coffee. Now, I know what you’re thinking – ‘Michael! last month you were making perfumes about planets, and this week, out of nowhere, you’ve made a perfume about coffee?! […]
Well I had it all planned out didn’t I? I declared but a few weeks ago that I’d use this blogging space to assess and appraise each of the three planets I’m going to devise a scented experience for in […]
Perfumed Planets #2 – The Smell of the Sky Uranus – or Ouranos as the Ancient Greeks would have it – is a primal personification of the sky. The sky is an intangible, ethereal entity that possesses a certain mystery; it […]
Perfumed Planets #1 – Saturn and Sillage As my work for my upcoming solo show in Blackburn is ticking along nicely I thought it appropriate to dedicate the next three weeks arriving at some important creative decisions concerning my upcoming […]
This week I have been fluctuating between deciding on final fragrance designs for my upcoming exhibition at Bureau and charting a course of action for my olfactive endeavours in 2019. Perhaps being constantly concerned with past, present and future is […]
Perfume as Practice SS18 at Bureau, Blackburn feels rather more imminent now that I have designed a poster for it: The process of designing and distributing posters for exhibitions – particularly solo shows – does add a certain weight to […]
Last year I sought to take advantage of the association perfume has with Valentine’s Day by creating a set of distinct perfumes, each describing a star sign: But these perfumes were far from a commercial cash-in. Instead, my aim was […]
This week has been one of those weeks. You know, one that has involved a lot of ‘thinking’ and ‘research’ but without any actual making? I have a natural tendency to feel disheartened about such a week; it feels unproductive […]
I will always consider visual aesthetics when designing perfume exhibitions for two reasons: Scent only translates into an experience when an audience is present within a space, therefore visual aesthetics become a useful means of describing and promoting my olfactive endeavours […]
Last Saturday I visited the venue for my next Perfume as Practice solo exhibition – Bureau Gallery in Blackburn. As with any space, Bureau Blackburn comes with its own set of quirks, nuances and challenges. Chiefly, the space is a […]
It is becoming clear that April is going to be a rather busy month. It will see me host 3 perfume making workshops, an artist’s talk and, predominantly, my first Perfume as Practice solo show of the year – Perfume […]
I find myself in a rather unusual yet advantageous position of having all of my fragrance based endeavours for the next 12 months secured. The only anomaly to this is ‘Scents of our Time’ – which I’d like to trial […]
2017 has seen me conduct no less than 12 perfume making workshops around the UK. And, as the last one of the year concluded on Saturday I thought it an appropriate time to document and appraise what I’ve learnt about […]
You find me in a somewhat reflective mood, such is the mindset that the last month of the year brings. I’ve been thinking about the successes and failures of the last 12 months in the hope that I can learn […]
Before September this year I didn’t know what my physical limits were when considering my career as an artist. Since the beginning I have adopted a somewhat cavalier ‘I’ll get things done at all costs’ attitude that, by and large, […]
I am still processing all of my olfactory activity from the end September until now. It’s been a period of extreme intensity, which has seen me deliver a residency, a solo show, two group shows and 5 workshops around the UK […]
Last Friday saw the opening of Perfume as Practice AW17 – my solo show at Surface Gallery, Nottingham, which houses 20 perfume portraits and a series of paintings. The perfumes have been achieved through a process that begins by asking […]
Oh, how I wish for just a few days to decompress and evaluate this month’s creative endeavours; to get to grips with the successes and failures of my Orchard Square residency; to recover from a weekend of installing and taking […]
October will see me utilise this blog for documenting, describing and assessing my Orchard Square artist’s residency. We’re just over a week in and I feel as though I have began to assert my creative integrity within the space. It has become […]
October will see me utilise this blog for documenting, describing and assessing my Orchard Square artist’s residency. We’re just over a week in and I feel as though I have began to assert my creative integrity within the space. As every day […]