Odor Ludens

Lectures

Frank Bloem: The Sweet Smell of Plastic
Odorama curator Frank Bloem grew up in the eighties and although his parents promoted wooden toys, he preferred plastic. When reflecting on it later he realised that his favourite toy, a plastic pink panther puppet, was especially so attractive because it smelled like sweet strawberry. He tells us about flavours that manufacturers add to toys in order to attract kids. 

Alissa Rees: Baby Farm Toys
Alissa Rees is a concept and healthcare designer that comes to talk about her project 'Baby Farm Toys'. These special toys can be stuffed with straw, wool and soil. Contact with these natural microbes seem to have the ability to reduce the risk of developing diseases and allergies such as asthma, inflammatory bowel and hay fever. The fact that the smell of these natural materials will create a strong first memory, also helps to activate an interest for nature at a young age. While talking about this project, Alissa explains how the smell of toys can help to get our children and future generations excited to reconnect with nature. 

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Caro Verbeek: Influencing Scents
It appears that the meaning we attribute to certain odours is fluid and gender-specific. Toys can therefore influence a mind at an early age. For example: the Star Wars TIE fighter pilot smells of strawberry because it was produced in the same factory as Strawberry Shortcake dolls. A whole generation, now associates this innocent fruity scent with masculinity and violence. Scent historian Caro Verbeek comes to talk about how added flavours in toys could influence the normative ideas developed by children. 

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Thijs de Zeeuw: The Playing Animal
That humans need to play and experience personal growth while playing, is a fact that we know from the book Homo Ludens, by Johan Huizinga. But what about animals? Landscape designer Thijs de Zeeuw, designs living spaces for animals in zoos and comes to talk about the playing animal. How do animals play? which toys can you give to an imprisoned animal? and most important: what role do scents play therein? 

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Jonathan Ho: Aromas in the Darkroom
By looking at the enormous supply of dildos, butt-plugs, nipple-clamps, vibrators, handcuffs, et cetera, it becomes clear that children are not the only ones that play with toys, adults do to. Jonathan Kok Wai Ho is a visual artist and designer of fetish toys. He designed a number of toys for sexual play, and also designed the interiors of the darkrooms in Homoclub Church, Amsterdam. He comes to talk about the importance of smell when designing equipment for sexual fantasies. What scents do you use in the darkroom and what not? What taboos prevent the use of perfumes? And which role do poppers, sweat, and other smells play in a fetish game or a visit to the darkroom? 

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Bring your own toy

Do you remember a significant smell of a toy from your own childhood? In case you still have it, please bring it with you! We will present a fine selection of toys from the eighties and nineties, but to get a rich pallet of smells we would like to encourage all visitors to bring their own smelly toys, or to send a video of it in a we-transfer link to frank.bloem@mediamatic.nl.