What is the role of fragrance in contemporary culture, asks a new exhibition at 10 Corso Como

Milan concept store 10 Corso Como has partnered with London creative agency System Preferences to launch Olfactory Signals 01

Borntostandout perfume
10 Corso Como opens its doors to Olfactory Signals 01, an exhibition featuring perfume brands such as Borntostandout and a sensory installation by artists Illya Goldman Gubin and Sissel Tolaas
(Image credit: Courtesy of Borntostandout)

Today (20 February 2025) 10 Corso Como opened its doors to Olfactory Signals 01, an exhibition located on the recently redesigned first floor of the Milanese concept store.

Conceived by London-based creative agency System Preferences, the show coincides with the 15th instalment of Esxence – The Art Perfumery Event, an annual celebration of niche fragrance-making and the culture that surrounds it.

10 Corso Como and System Preferences present Olfactory Signals 01

10 Corso Como Milan

Artists Illya Goldman Gubin and Sissel Tolaas next to their collaborative, sensory installation titled IGGSBT

(Image credit: © Matteo Viti, Federico Gherardi)

Olfactory Signals 01 marks the first edition of an ongoing project exploring fragrance as an artistic medium. ‘Through installations, events, and collaborations with artists and designers, the project aims to redefine the role of fragrance in contemporary culture,’ says a statement released on behalf of System Preferences. (Alongside 10 Corso Como, the agency also counts the likes of Saint Laurent and SSENSE amongst its roster of clients).

In 10 Corso Como’s Project Room, the exhibition puts the spotlight on a roster of innovative contemporary perfume brands, selected for their role in ‘challenging traditional olfactory and aesthetic conventions’.

This includes names such as Barnabé Fillion’s Arpa Studios, the US-based D.S. & Durga and Chopowa Lowena, which recently debuted a fragrance line. Additional pieces on display come courtesy of design brands Objects Are By, NM3 and Redduo.

10 Corso Como Milan

IGGSBT by Artists Illya Goldman Gubin and Sissel Tolaas

(Image credit: © Matteo Viti, Federico Gherardi)

At the centre of Olfactory Signals 01 is ‘an immersive experience that explores new connections between smell, memory, and emotion’, which can be discovered in 10 Corso Como’s Gallery space.

Titled IGGSBT, this sensory installation is a collaborative work by Berlin-based artist Illya Goldman Gubin and Norwegian researcher and olfactory artist Sissel Tolaas, featuring huge rolls of scented paper questioning the ‘dominance of visual stimuli in our world’.

10 Corso Como Milan

Olfactory Signals 01 features perfume brands such as D.S. & Durga

(Image credit: © Matteo Viti, Federico Gherardi)

Goldman Gubin and Tolaas will speak further about IGGSBT and their respective practices in a panel talk tomorrow, Friday 21 February. The following day, creative directors Elise by Olsen and Morteza Vaseghi will also discuss their process of ‘archiving scents’.

Olfactory Signals 01 is open from now until 22 February 2025 between 10.30am - 7.30pm CET at Corso Como, 10 20154 Milan.

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Hannah Tindle is Beauty & Grooming Editor at Wallpaper*. She brings ideas to the magazine’s beauty vertical, which closely intersects with fashion, art, design, and technology.