Wearing the smell of old books
A legendary bookstore says they’ve captured the smell of old books — in a perfume! Our prayers have been answered! Right?
Well… I don’t know about that.
I inhale the old-book scent regularly, as I rummage through my paper stash for collage materials. Lucky for me, my friends and collectors enable my habit; I just received a delicious haul from Tess the other day. Perfect timing to find out how “Powell’s by Powell” unisex fragrance holds up to The Real Thing.
You might be familiar with the chemistry behind old-book scent: it’s even been formally studied in a lab. But this quote from “Perfume: An A-Z Guide” is far more evocative:
Photo credit: Patrick Tomasso/Unsplash
And yes, the Powell’s fragrance does smell like vanilla, with some woody notes — but not like a favorite old book. It did, however, bring a vivid image to mind. This must be what it’s like to chew an overflowing mouthful of vanilla-scented sugar crystals, followed by a shot glass of wooden splinters. It doesn’t transport me back to libraries I’ve loved, or books I’ve read until they fell apart in my hands.
I want to love this fragrance… I really do. But it would be more satisfying to drive a few hours and then walk into the actual Powell’s Books, just to hyperventilate the air inside. The perfume is missing something. Maybe a hit of printer’s ink?
Jesus H. Christ, Lisa!
Can you see the Divine Light shining out of my face? Google can.
Unknown artist, “Christ’s Blessing” stained glass window at Greensboro Historical Museum, North Carolina
It’s Friday… I’m just having a little more fun with Google’s art selfie app. According to the museum collections included in this app, I could be A) a Mexican/French/Brazilian woman, or B) a solemn toddler, or C) Jesus H. Christ. What do you think?
Selfie match-up with: “Manya LaTour” by Raphael Soyer; “Retrato de Lucy I” by Lasar Segall
Leopold Louis Boilly, “Portrait of Madame Gastellier;” FECK, “Sin titulo (Untitled)”
Speaking of having a little fun: Carla Sonheim’s “Bugs!” art class starts on Monday! I make my appearance on Thursday, October 22nd. Have you registered yet? If not, this is your Official Reminder to make room for some collage fun next week.
The latest #challenge (it's super-easy)
I’ve got a social media challenge for ya: put down the phone and pick up a book… about a super-successful hashtag.
Remember when thousands of people started dressing themselves — and everything around them — like museum paintings? A Dutch woman started the trend, and then the Getty Museum version went viral. Now the museum’s gathered thousands of those re-creations into a book. “Off the Walls” comes out next month. The good news: proceeds from the book go to the Artist Relief nationwide fund. The bad news: unfortunately, the fund’s website says that project shuts down at the end of September.
So before you go back to staring at your phone, maybe consider donating directly to the relief fund. It’ll be your good art deed of the day, at least until “Off the Walls” hits your mailbox.