"Perfumery and aroma space design both stem from the same core: the experience of beauty through the olfactory senses. One flows naturally out of the other. Aroma space design and perfumery are also overlapping in certain material aspects as they use certain similar basic ingredients. Although perfumery tends to be more luxurious and exclusive. The main difference is the focus: perfumery is more closely related to the body, the clothes and the person who is wearing it, the sillage more closely following the person`s movements.
"Aroma space design has a much wider reach and can be designed for large rooms and public spaces free from the person as a carrier of the scent. Therefore, it can be more easily linked to a visual design/architecture, products, brands etc. and other applications."—Maurice Joosten
When I spewed the beads of my question on how simillar is perfumery with aroma space design, that's how Maurice Joosten beaded them in a chain. Maurice Joosten works for @aroma Co., Ltd., a company in Tokyo which specializes in the diffusion of essential oil blends in public spaces like hotels, shops, spas, showrooms and office spaces. He designs original blends on demand and also creates aroma stones. Originally from Holland, now living in Japan, Maurice is a sculptor, aroma space designer and yoga instructor. He unites all three under one roof in harmony and one day he wishes to create a visual and olfactory artwork all in one. To learn more about his artwork you can visit www.mauricejoosten.com.
Talking about his work as an aroma space designer, Maurice explains that some blends are developed with specific properties to increase concentration, relaxation etc., which certainly has some link with aromatherapy. But many blends are developed that are actually closer towards the world of perfume and are designed to evoke certain images, create a specific atmosphere, or simply for people`s pleasure and well-being. He has been a sculptor for most part of his life but when he ventured into aroma space designing, it was as if he was able to explore the connection and synergy between the visual and olfactory design of a space.
For him, the process of concocting the desired blend is not so different than sculpture, when shaping, sanding and caressing a form until the right balance is there. It is about both sensuality and the dissolving of boundaries. Talking further on art and design, one can see depth in his words and his work, and one can clearly see his interest in the metaphysical origins of scenting and perfuming.
Speaking on the trend that has brought more attention to the possibilities of diffusing scents in public spaces, he says that in recent years it's been a trend in marketing business towards "multi-sense" or "five senses" marketing, which brands products not only through visual advertisements but also includes sound, smell, touch and taste.
He says, "Creating and appreciating fragrance is about desire and longing. What is eventually the ultimate desire other than to be desireless? To completely dissolve the illusory boundaries between ourselves and the world. It is the mind that creates the separation between ourselves and the rest of the world, while our actual experience tells a very different story, where there is no such boundary or limitation.
"This freedom of being one with whatever is experienced can be sensed with a fragrance that seems to embrace everything and color the whole space with intimacy. Or felt as a sensual shape, moving fluidly in space. 'Intimate' is a good word to describe this experience: When everything around us feels as being part of what we are, to have intimacy with everything. "
Readers might also be interested in reading about the aroma stone that Maurice creates. It is a small unglazed ceramic piece that can easily be held in one`s hand. The porous surface quickly absorbs the oils and keeps the fragrance for a while.
In the end I asked him to gather his work as an artist, aroma designer and yoga instructor and he expressed it by his favourite dictum of The Alchemist: "Solve et Coagula" ("Dissolve and unite").
Images from mauricejoosten.com
Author: Naheed Shoukat Ali (naheed)
Fragrantica Writer
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