18.8.23
after work, i went to The Hoe. There's a small cove
i like to sit at and i call this 'my studio'. i also call it 'my favourite place' or
'the rocks' but i went there to have ideas so today, it was 'my studio'. i do this thing called 'rapid fire ideas' which is exactly what it sounds
like. i fill a page with ideas as quickly as possible, not worrying whether
they're any good or not. one of the things i wrote down was 'office
scented candles'. then i went home and didn't think much more about it.
* also i think for that poem at the top of the page this would be better:
i was underwater when you tried,
to teach me how to breathe,
and i was chocking back salt water,
when i had to watch you leave.
​
but who knows?
​
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.8.23
today there was a lull in work so i sat at my desk and tried to imagine what those candles would smell like. i used the rapid fire technique again and came up with twelve. some of them would obviously never make a good candle, like 'bin bags, sellotape and Listerine'. but others i thought were really interesting like 'orange, blu tac and rubber bands'. from those initial ideas, i researched the most available essential/fragrance oils that could align with the scents i'd need and then i formed a short list.
​
i made a clean copy of the shortlist and took it around the office to get some feedback and to see which the most popular scents would be. i know my favourite but i want to make three different scents so i figured i'd do some market research. there were some really interesting suggestions too, like the inclusion of a scent that smells like the end of the work week or a celebratory pint down at the pub. i also thought the idea to distil my own flavours was awesome and if i had access to a lab i would definitely do that to blu tac and a sticky pub carpet.
​
below are the initial and shortlisted scents:
i also read about the project Tender by Mike Bouchet where he worked with a perfumer to create a scent inspired by paper money. He then created an installation in a gallery using the smell - the gallery was empty except for this. the final scent had notes of multiple inks, leather, cotton, various metals and bodily scents - like sweaty palms. This is pretty similar to what i want to do although through candles so you can take the office home with you after work.
​
researching Tender did give me a second idea though. i'm working on a project (it's a secret at the minute, sorry) and i want to create a perfume that 'smells like me' and then have this infused into the gallery space the work will be presented in. and i don't mean spray the cologne i wear around the gallery, i mean dissect myself like Bouchet did the money and figure out what i would smell like if distilled into a perfume. This way although i would never be present, the idea of me would be and if anything, that's what happens when you make autobiographical work. you're a ghost. Hauntology. i made notes on that too but that's for another day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.8.23.
researched different wax types.
decided on soy over paraffin.
it has a lower melting point, higher scent throw and doesn't release any emissions/pollutants when burned.
i think beeswax lasts the longest but i think that'd be expensive.
paraffin is slightly cheaper than soy but i think it's worth the higher price.
​
i also brainstormed the next steps like where to make the candles - the studio or my kitchen? and how many candles to make. at first, i was going to make three based on which ere the most popular but i think i should make one of each five (4oz candle) and then take them to the office for a blind smell test to see which actually are successful and then choose the top three based on that.
​
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30.8.23
​
the fragrance oils arrived - i still need to find mint and rubber - the rubber fragrance oil i had originally found isn't suitable for candle making, turns out. i have the wax and the wicks, i still need to order tins. oh, and i decided on a 7.5 diameter tin in silver after making some rudimentary paper cylinders at lunch yesterday to test the scale.
​
i learned that you have to let candles cure for a couple of weeks for their scent to 'solidify' as it were so i'd imagine it'll be the end of September before i finish this project - and that's assuming the scent profiles are successful first try.