I don't like contemporary abstract art -- the original stuff from the 50's was a legitimate response to age-old figurative art, and the romanticism of the Impressionists, as well as an authentic expression of the post war 50's zeitgeist. Since then, it all seems to me like a rehash, coming from an acedamic place that uses the original stuff as the reference, or is so pared down as to become wallpaper, and boring wallpaper at that! Now here's a wonderful piece by Maura Bendett, who says that when she went to Grad school it was unthinkable to go against the Abstract Expressionist Old Boys Network, and she didn't until she had enough courage at the end of school. And Bill Brice's students at UCLA were lucky enough to be with an authentic abstract artist, who had been working since the 40's, and wasn't part of any movement.
But enough about my unpopular ideas about Contemporary Art, I'm just using this as a lead-in to the connections to and differences between abstraction in art, and perfumery, which has fewer precedents, and is truly Contemporary, although it is just as hard to pull off. The trick, for me, is for an abstract scent to smell like Something, i.e. Itself, without smelling like anything in particular that you can identify. Two of the legendary scents in this area are Eau D'Issey, and Dzing, neither of which have ever really spoken to me, although I find the latter quite fascinating. The LA based Gendarme, which is supposed to be a men's scent that smells nothing but clean, is an Emperor's New Clothes scent to me.
All of this leads me to the lovely hour I spent at Ormonde Jayne in London a couple of weeks ago. As far as perfume reviews go, it doesn't get better than Octavian, so here his take on them. For myself, I must say that the legendary Ta'if and Ormonde Jayne Woman are extraordinary, and I brought other samples with me on my trip to vet them. The transparency and lack of literal perfume qualities have made these perfect travelling companions to stinky hysterical India, as foils to the daily bombardment of the senses here.
I had thought that perhaps rich "natural" scents would be the ticket here, when I made the perfume bag for my trip, although I had imagined that some less rich scents might be refreshing, and brought Tea for Two, M & B Spiritus, and the strange vintage Jean LaPorte bitter mango scent L'Eau des Marveilleuses. Although neither Jasmine & Tuberose, the original Indian florals, are my faves, Helg assures me that I would love them here in their natural habitats (I'm ashamed to say that I haven't pursued any perfume in India yet, must this week), the night blooming jasmine in Jodhpur was unlike anything I've ever smelled. I find that my Norma Kamali Perfume containing a zillion florals in a rich intense blend just makes me dizzy here, while is conversely refreshing in arid LA.
I had recently become a convert to O-J, and was delighted that I'd be able to get there in London and sniff everything in its natural habitat and buy whatever I wanted, as they are unavailable in the US, except by order from the O-J site.
The OJ scents are characterized by a kind of transparency and sparkling effect, especially remarkable in contrast with quite earthy woods and spices which make up the notes of at least half of her offerings. By "her," I mean the lovely Linda Pilkington who we got to hang out with for half of our time at the shop. There was a lot to talk about, between shoes and perfume and travel and families, and we barely scratched the surface, I'm looking forward to going back to grab my new faves, Champaca and Tolu, and test the Parfum version of Sampaquita, which I love, but seems to vaporize on me. I was so covered in EDP when I was at the shop, I hadn't a chance to sample the Parfums, which I hear are wonderful, and quite changed by the intensity of 30% vs 20% of essential scent components (I hope I have the numbers right, it's something like that). Next week I'll be back in London in Winter, quite a change from India AND Los Angeles, it will be interesting to sniff these scents in the cold!
Hooray, you are back!...but you are gone...off for travels to far places? Am wishing you well, and safe swift travel to London.
Posted by: ScentScelf | November 29, 2008 at 12:48 PM