Art comes in many forms and scent is yet another wonderfully unique medium that can be used as expression, such is the case with ‘Accident’ Perfume.
above: the new limited edition scent, artist Austin Young and perfumer Brent Leonesio
The Institute for Art and Olfaction is an arts organization hosting educational workshops, a library and experimental projects that use the medium of scent. To help support the crowd-sourced participatory experience and musical: ‘TBD’, the IAO invited perfumer Brent Leonesio to collaborate with the provocateur Austin Young on a limited art edition.
The result? A very unique scent in artful bottles promoted with wild posters.
THE SMELL:
above: Brent Leonesio, Saskia Wilson-Brown from IAO and Austin Young
For the perfume itself, Brent Leonesio of Smellbent set out to find olfactory beauty in unexpected places. Leonesio describes Accident as ‘the lingering whiff of gasoline on your fingertips that you can’t stop sniffing; the familiar and the strange; the contrast elucidated when exotic floral extracts hold hands with other-worldly aroma chemicals. Accident is a collision of ideas, a harmonic discord.’
Base Notes: Gasoline vapor, Perfume spilled down a bucket seat, Safety glass, A smoking tire, A last minute dab of face powder, The smell of a mechanic.
THE BOTTLES:
Austin Young’s ‘Accident’ by Brent Leonesio comes in a black glass stopper bottle that was hand-transformed by Young in keeping with the style he developed through over 30 years of photographic and experiential arts practice. Each of the 40ml hand-assembled bottles are unique and come in a numbered box. They are intended as an art piece, and were created in an edition of 100.
THE PROMOTIONAL POSTERS:
With the help of graphic designer Micah Hahn of AutumnSeventy, the package design and marketing campaigns become tools with which to reexamine the concepts of beauty, glamour, luxury and mass appeal.
above: posters for Accident Featuring models Squeaky Blonde, The Infamous Boom Boom and Tammie Brown
40 mL bottle, Limited Edition of 100 bottles
$150.00 + shipping & sales tax, where applicable
2 mL sample, Limited Edition of 50 samples
$10.00 + shipping & sales tax, where applicable
Accident is available for sale at $150 a bottle online here and here
PROJECT CREDITS
Concept: Austin Young, Brent Leonesio, Saskia Wilson-Brown for The Institute for Art and Olfaction
Perfume: Brent Leonesio
Model Photography: Austin Young
Bottle Photography: The Institute for Art and Olfaction
Bottle Manufacturing: Austin Young, Brent Leonesio, Saskia Wilson-Brown – based on the visual style of Austin Young
Art Marketing Strategy: Austin Young
Logo & Graphic Design: Micah Hahn at AutumnSeventy
Models: Squeaky Blonde, The Infamous Boom Boom, Tammie Brown
Special Thanks to: Micah Hahn, Lenora Claire, O. Berk Bottles, and the marvelous Addie.
This project was based on and inspired by the visual artwork of artist and provocateur Austin Young and the scent work of perfumer Brent Leonesio. It was a collaboration between Young, Leonesio and Wilson-Brown for The Institute for Art and Olfaction. A special thanks to all of them for information and images.