Smell mapping Astor Place

Odours and opinions are the key components of a smellscape map, and New York has both in abundance. “Smellmap Astor Place”, commissioned by NYC Department of Transportation Art Summer Streets programming team, added curiosity and calculated contention to the Astor Place Rest Stop over 3 consecutive Saturdays in August 2017.

Primary smell research, conducted via human sniffs, was gleaned from the noses of Summer Streets employees and Village Alliance during April, May and June 2017 resulting in a labelled Smellmap of the neighborhood. Notable whiffs included “Gym people”, “pretentious coffee roast” and “food trucks – Halal and Chinese” as well as a “Wet, dusty dog”, “Phone booth” and “wet garbage bins”. The 80,000 visitors per day to Summer Streets on Aug 5, 12 and 19 were invited to take a smellwalk, to sniff locally, to visualise their experience and contest their findings by adding graffiti to the large map. The subway is a regular contender on the NYC smellscape radar – a smell propelled by warmth and air pushed through tunnels as noted in the following smellnote, “Stronger when the train passes under the sidewalk”.

Commissioned work for New York City Department of Transportation Summer Streets Public Art programme