Category: Article

How sad and impoverished must life be for the anosmiacs among us, those poor wretches who have lost the ability to smell?

C’est tragique! as Marcel Proust might say, who also said, “When nothing else remains from the past, friends and things long gone, the odors from their living remain as tiny drops of their essence for you to remember.”

The olfactory epithelium is a tiny piece of real estate in the nasal cavity, crowded with millions of neurons, every one of which is equipped with a sort of odorant antennae that recognizes tens of thousands of distinct smells and passes them along to the brain’s olfactory cortex, where studies have long shown that even subtle odors have the power to release emotions and memories that have been stashed away in the most distant reaches of the subconscious.

Wouldn’t it be lovely, we’ve often thought, to have access to a bottled fragrance that could recall to us cherished people and places from our past? Prince, for instance, or Sarah Jessica Parker, or…Roseville?

Celebrity scents, of course, are all the rage these days. And now a Manhattan parfumier is introducing a line of themed perfumes targeted at New York’s neighborhoods and boroughs. Its most recent addition, Coney Island (which costs $178 for 3.4 ounces and incorporates nearly 200 ingredients, including melon, guava, and caramel), opened the door to a dizzying range of local possibilities. While the Rake’s line of TC Scent™ colognes and perfumes is still in the laboratory stages, we thought we’d give you a sneak peek at some of the projects taking shape on our conference room table and driving us into fits of desire, restlessness, and nostalgic reverie.

Blaine!
Suburban androgyny in a bottle, Blaine! is the ultimate in his-and-her scents, a sort of throwback perlogne that incorporates hard and soft, sweet and sour, practicality and romance, in one irresistible concoction that carries subtle hints of Love’s Baby Soft, charcoal briquettes, Captain Morgan, OFF!, Hai Karate, lilacs, and WD-40. Won’t wash off in the hot tub and virtually guaranteed to trigger pheromone frenzies that’ll have the whole neighborhood buzzing. Happy hour at T.G.I. Fridays will never be the same.

Pig’s Eye Potion
Money has a smell and that smell is Pig’s Eye Potion, the ultimate status scent. Combining the essence of fine old mahogany with sparks of cumin and cilantro, Pig’s Eye evokes the stately elegance of Summit Avenue, but with a playful undercurrent of Selby and Western.

Mound for Men
Mound is potent yet understated, with hints of stonewashed denim, pine, and an indescribable zest reminiscent of Heinz 57. A scent for strong and stoic types, Mound does all the talking, and what it says (and says loudly) is, “I’m a man and damn proud of it. Screw you Minnetonka.”

Utterly Uptown
Inspired by the piquant paste of dissolving deodorant, chlorine, baked concrete, the spices of Thailand and India, and the distinct smell produced by the combination of synthetic footwear and ankle perspiration, this fragrance marries notes of Nag Champa and faux suede with the spilt 3M chemicals of Lake Calhoun for a sensory experience that literally melts (into) the skin.

Eden Prairie for Women
The closest to God a woman can get without being dead, this fragrance combines the innocence of daisies with hints of fresh linen and that timelessly captivating “new car” smell. Eden Prairie is not for harlots, but rather for the chaste woman. A heavenly complement to sensible shoes and support panel pantyhose, it’s the scent that states firmly, “I’m married, thank you very much.”

These two artists (plus Burton Fialk, in the MCP’s Minnesota Projects Gallery) make work about seeing others—in particular, seeing them under duress. Photography lends itself to this, although it’s a use that most of us would not dare undertake. Annabel Clark has documented her mother, Lynn Redgrave, as she endures breast cancer and its treatment (Redgrave plans to visit during the run of the show; see www.mncp.org for dates), while Arlene Gottfried documented the life of a man named Midnight for over twenty years. At first he was beautiful enough to command a premium price as a hustler; then he melts down with madness, bad drugs, and the simple toll of years. As standards narrow for all of us in a consumerist world, we need to push against the limits of what we can love, and what we can find lovely. This show helps. 165 13th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis; 612-824-5500; www.mncp.org

Jantje Fisscher’s breathtaking constructions really are “drawings in light”: She uses certain plastics to construct light-gathering patterns that take her longtime fascination with natural form and rhythm to new heights. Her work has developed over the years from interesting but relatively dry explorations of pattern to increasingly ecstatic immersion in an expanded idea of the natural. Mary Griep’s drawings of notable sacred buildings from around the world may seem pale beside Visscher’s indulgent work, but she has solid merits of her own, and also explores the relation of form and the meaning that is power. Ultimately, it makes for a very interesting pairing. 612-870-3131; www.artsmia.org

In the strange Earrings of Madame de …, a lonely woman, cloistered in an upper-class existence of endless soirées and empty finery, sells the pair of diamond earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day; the unnamed heroine needs spending money to cavort with her long queue of suitors. Oddly enough, the earrings make a complete circle, going from jeweler back to husband, from him to his mistress, then lost gambling in a casino, then back to our eponymous Madame (given to her by the paramour with whom she eventually falls in love). Max Ophüls’s moving 1953 picture is not so much an indictment of upper-class mores (both husband and wife make no secrets of their affairs), as it is an examination of the complex trappings of love, jealousy, and marriage.

Oh, that Douglas Sirk. The king of suburban ’50s melodrama is being given his due at this year’s Walker Summer Music and Movies program, and it’s about time. In There’s Always Tomorrow, Fred MacMurray—possibly the most underrated actor of his generation—plays a successful family man who is, nevertheless, plagued by disappointment. His wife is focused on their kids, who live their own lives and leave Dad pondering the meaning of it all. And then in walks Barbara Stanwyck—remember their pairing from Double Indemnity?—and sparks fly. But while the wife remains oblivious to her husband’s absence, MacMurray’s oldest child suspects treachery. Per the usual with Sirk, emotions are crushed beneath the stifling norms of the ’50s, and no one can emerge unscathed. 612-375-7600; www.walkerart.org

When it all boils down, Vitus is nothing more than a story about a child prodigy who seeks to be a normal boy. But in the hands of director Fredi M. Murer, the simple tale becomes a small but complex masterpiece about the universal difficulties of childhood. Murer, who is unknown in this country but considered Switzerland’s greatest director, obsessively captures the details of youth, including the rich interactions between child and adult. You will not find a movie that better addresses the pains and frustrations of childhood. Vitus is a must-see for parents seeking to challenge their children. Something tells us Mom and Dad will be moved, as well. 651-649-4416; www.landmarktheatres.com www.landmarktheatres.com

This collaboration between writer/director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and the animation geeks at Pixar takes the medium to new heights. Ratatouille is the simple tale of Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a rat hiding in the shadows of a famous Parisian restaurant who seeks to become a chef. Like The Incredibles, Ratatouille is a comedy of startling action, consistently hilarious jokes, and mechanically brilliant slapstick. But the film is also a deeply felt meditation on the pleasures of hard work, friendship, eating (of course), and, surprisingly, the often cantankerous relationship between artist and critic. Avoid pigeonholing this one as a child’s diversion; Ratatouille is a profound joy, and the best film of the year.

Local artist Strassheim is a former forensic photographer who now shoots her own family in disturbing tableaux. Her reputation has been growing ever since her work was featured in the last Whitney Biennial. Small wonder, then, that she has a beautiful show at the Burnet Gallery in the Chambers Hotel—which, of course, has built its own reputation on both overweening hipness and an abundance of adventurous art. Since good art is rarely served in close proximity to good cocktails, don’t miss this chance to take in both. 901 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612.767.6900; www.chambersminneapolis.com/hotel-events

The Minnesota Orchestra’s concert on July 21 will celebrate the talent of one of its own, the trumpeter and jazz composer
Charles Lazarus. Not only will Lazarus play as a soloist, but the program will include a selection of his original compositions, which will be paired with Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s seminal 1861 symphony Night in the Tropics, a Cuban-flavored affair that is said to have anticipated New Orleans jazz by a half-century. Lazarus’s works—“Kilauea’s Fountains,” “Waves,” and “Dance Honu”—go nicely with Gottschalk’s tropical tones; these are brassy, Hawaiian-flavored numbers cut with hula and chant. We wondered what influences might have informed this sound, so we asked Lazarus to name his favorite songs.

1. “The Sinister Minister,” by Béla Fleck & the Flecktones
The title always makes me laugh. It makes me think of some character in a really cheesy horror movie. It features one of my favorite bass players, Victor Wooten. I love the mix of banjo and harmonica in a groovy rock context. Maybe I owe that to growing up with North Carolina bluegrass. For some reason, it makes me crave barbecue.

2. “Summertime” off the album Miles Davis – Porgy and Bess
Nothing beats the soulful expressiveness of Miles Davis—particularly when paired with Gil Evans’s innovative orchestrations. It’s almost impossible not to feel cool while listening to this.

3. “Orchestral Suite No. 3” off the album German Brass Bach 2000
This is the perfect listen-to-at-brunch CD. My favorite moment comes at 1:17 when the most perfect note comes soaring out of the high horn part. It’s the best single second of any CD I own, played by one of the best brass groups of all time.

4. “Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)” off the album Getz/Gilberto
It’s the combo of the evocative lyrics and Astrud Gilberto’s sultry vocals [the famous voice behind “The Girl From Ipanema”] mixed with Tom Jobim’s bossa nova—everything is so laid back and in the pocket.

5. “Neruda Trumpet Concerto” by Maurice André
This is actually from a cassette of an album long out of print. I might spend the rest of my life trying to play one note as beautifully as any on this recording.

6. “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang
When I was in fourth grade, my best friend Jody Bowman and I used to bring a boombox to the school playground. We would strut around with the box on our shoulder and rap while everyone else played kickball. We took it very seriously. Sometimes I’d even wear a leisure suit!

7. “Red Sun” off Anoushka Shankar’s album Rise
This is an ultra-modern, hip version of the Indian art of vocal percussion called konnakol. She has taken an ancient tradition and modernized it with rockin’ club grooves. One night I spent hours rewinding one tiny section, trying to figure out the patterns. Lucky for me, the tune grooves so hard you don’t have to understand it to enjoy it.

8. “Don’t Wait Too Long” off Madeleine Peyroux’s album Careless Love
My girlfriend and I heard this for the first time on a television commercial and for some reason it captured our attention and we ended up dancing in front of the TV. Madeleine Peyroux is like a modern-day Billie Holiday—gorgeous voice.

9. “Janine” off Thievery Corporation’s album DJ Kicks
I love how this album is like one giant seamless tune. It puts the organic, earthy sounds of the tabla in a trip-hop setting. There’s something very moody and primal about it.

10. “Punahele” by Sonny Lim, off the compilation Slack Key Guitar Vol. 2
This CD is ideal stress relief. It won a Grammy a couple of years ago and features traditional and modern Hawaiian slack key guitar. After about a minute of listening, I’m on the beach. This tends to be a particular favorite of mine in February, living in Minnesota.

Charles Lazarus and the Minnesota Orchestra perform Night in the Tropics on July 21. Sommerfest runs July 13 through August 5. 612-371-5656. www.minnesotaorchestra.org

Pablo Picasso: a name that started as a revolution, became mainstream, evolved into a platitude, and ended up as a punch line. He became the repository for everything Europe knew about art, and was the hinge between the School of Paris and the immense gathering energies of the New York School. Every artist in the last century has had to face him down; local legend Frank Gaard writes of his own struggle: “Most of my pals in high school called me Pablo or Picasso even in signing the yearbook … ” (read more). This much-anticipated show includes a couple dozen Picassos, and work by such grand types as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and David Smith, as well as Marsden Hartley, Louise Bourgeois, and Andy Warhol, among many more. 612-375-7600; www.walkerart.org