Technical and Philosophical Notes on the Perfumery Creative Process

By: Arcadi Boix Camps, Auram Art & Perfume

Posted: April 22, 2008, from the May 2008 issue of P&F magazine.

Balancing the Artistic and Scientific Impulses in Perfumery

As both perfumer and chemist, I was aware that while the processes of creative thinking in artistic and scientific pursuits have much in common, there are also distinctive differences. The artist places more importance on feeling and individual expression, often going to extremes to divorce himself from environmental constraints. The scientist relies more on disciplined, logical thinking to lead him in new directions. Artistic endeavor is dominantly expressive (although clearly oriented toward a goal), while scientific inventiveness is dominantly disciplined (although flexibly receptive to feelings and to imaginative experiences). I am obsessed with people that combine both impulses: noble artistic creativity and feelings (closely related to inherent wisdom) and scientific creativity (related more to “rational knowledge” than inherent wisdom).

Other topics discussed: Working toward “gardenia”; Discovering Materials Around the Globe

This is only an excerpt of the full article that appeared in P&F Magazine, but you can purchase the full-text version.