Dane Mitchell
Scent for Agoraphobia, 2016
Aluminum, scent diffuser
204 x 60,8 x 60,8 cm object
18,4 x 20 cm concrete base


For Gasträume 2016, Dane Mitchell has produced an object mimicking a display cabinet commonly seen on the sidewalks outside department stores in European cities. However, rather than containing commodities, the cabinet emits a scent; a scent for agoraphobia.

A morié effect created through the use of perforated metal enlivens the object, drawing the eye in — it is a visual trap — where ultimately, aroma molecules emanate outwards to be experienced by the passersby — perhaps just catching a faint whiff — to then travel invisibly by spreading thin and vanishing in the city air, leaving in their wake a faint echo.

Smell can be revelatory of places, circumstances and people alike, and not in ways we necessarily understand or control. This specific scent proposes an idea — an aroma to combat agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is the irrational fear of open spaces/public spaces, so the scent acts counter to this — offering intimacy in an open, public realm — making use of molecules that are warm, close and intimate.

The scent has a strong tobacco ‘note’ — which is warm and inviting. Cedarwood also plays a central role; in aromatherapy cedarwood is used to calm and balance one’s ‘energies’. These all coalesce in Dane Mitchell’s new public artwork to build an intimate scent experience — one to counter agoraphobia — in a shared public space.

As the perfume expands in the air, infiltrating public space with molecules, which are given agency through a variety of complex forces, including gravity, air current, diffusion and dispersal, the scent establishes a fusional relationship with the world. This new work, titled Scent for Agoraphobia, 2016 stakes out physical sculptural space, yet offers a sensory experience whose qualities are marginal, unstable, dynamic and transitional.

Dane Mitchell's new public work for Zurich is kindly supported by
KuKui Parfums d’Ambiance (fragrance & scent diffuser)