Smellfie Kit: Urban Smellscape Mapping Guide

The Smellfie Kit is an immersive, interactive guide designed by Kate McLean to engage individuals in the act of mapping and experiencing urban smellscapes. This sensory exploration tool encourages participants to actively capture the unique aromas of their surroundings, promoting a deeper connection to the unseen, often overlooked scents of the city.

The kit introduces three categories of smell, each representing a distinct level of presence and significance in the urban environment:

1. Curious / Unexpected Smells: These fleeting, transient scents provide surprise and intrigue, like the unexpected whiff of perfume from a passer-by or the aroma of old books and chocolate powder. These volatile smells are brief but memorable.
2. Episodic Smells: More localized, these scents reveal specific pockets of the city—wet fish markets, fragrant flowers, or the irresistible aroma of fried food. While they linger for a while, they are tied to particular times and places.
3. Background Smells: These pervasive, constant smells create the atmospheric backdrop of urban life. Humidity, dampness from canals, or the ever-present spicy aroma of street food form the sensory canvas against which all other smells exist.

Through a structured four-stage process, the Smellfie Kit guides users through different levels of sensory engagement:

• Stage 1 – Smell ‘Catching’: Passive smelling, where participants absorb the surrounding smells without actively searching for them.
• Stage 2 – Smell ‘Hunting’: Active smelling, where the individual seeks out specific scents, focusing on their nuances and subtleties.
• Stage 3 – ‘Free’ Smelling: A more organic approach where the smell experience flows naturally and intuitively.
• Stage 4 – Summary Smell: After the exploration, participants are encouraged to select a key ‘summary’ smell that encapsulates the essence of the area they’ve mapped.

By combining mapping techniques with sensory exploration, the Smellfie Kit invites participants to record, classify, and reflect on the smells of their city, providing a personal and artistic interpretation of urban environments. Through this process, individuals contribute to a growing body of olfactory data, enhancing our understanding of how smells shape our experience of place.

The kit also includes a Smellnote system that allows users to document the location, intensity, duration, and emotional associations of each smell. It’s a participatory approach to creating “smell maps” that challenge traditional perceptions of urban space, offering a new lens through which to experience and understand the world.

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Based on information provided by the artist website.