All my favorite independent perfumers have wonderful stories which found them expressing themselves through scent. Amber Jobin’s is one of my favorites. Her Aether Arts Perfume brand began out on the playa of Burning Man over a decade ago. Ms. Jobin has always made perfumery her contribution to the artistic gestalt of the annual festival. She started designing a specific perfume to complement each edition’s theme called Burner Perfumes. Her star took off when Burner Perfume No. 4 John Frum would win an Art & Olfaction Award. That one was her inflection point where the artist confidently came into view.
Amber Jobin at Burning Man
Every year since discovering Ms. Jobin the arrival of a new Burner Perfume is one of my most anticipated releases of the year. I usually get my sample a few weeks post-Burning Man. 2020 is different of course. The pandemic has canceled the event for this year. It doesn’t mean we aren’t getting a Burner Perfume it is just coming a little sooner. Aether Arts Burner Perfume No. 11 The Space Between keeps the creativity going.
More Amber Jobin from Burning Man
The theme for this year’s canceled version was “The Multiverse”. As she considered this concept that each person is their own universe with each of us making up the multiverse. How to design a scent which allows us to bridge those spaces with a scent that is The Space Between.
Ms. Jobin designed it in three different accords. The first one called “The Place of Potential” is a fleeting citrus and spice affair. This is the rind of citrus over the pulp while cardamom provides a spice complement. Potential is a fragile thing requiring grounding which is what Ms. Jobin provides in the middle accord called, “Everything is Possible”. This is a gorgeous fruity floral accord given a vegetal veil through tomato leaf. It is those glimmers from the top accord given more foundation. Ms. Jobin forms a contemporary version of the classic form. This leads to the final accord, “The Void” this is the attempt to make that connection of one piece of the multiverse to the other. This accord has grown out of her previous Exobotany and AI series. She has become adept at finding a way to capture the empty spaces, which occurs here. Using a series of unusual notes like katrafay, mushroom, and nagarmotha the base accord has a unique harmonic. As if it is coming from its own universe to find me.
The Space Between has 10-12 hour longevity and moderate sillage.
There won’t be anyone on the playa this year. Ms. Jobin has made sure it survives by creating a virtual playa out of The Space Between.
Disclosure: this review is based on a sample provided by Aether Arts Perfume.
–Mark Behnke
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