Eric Fong, Anna Williams

Thanatos is a multisensory installation centering on an eponymous original perfume that evokes the scent of a decomposing body discovered in a woodland. The perfume is the result of a collaboration between artist Eric Fong, perfumer Euan McCall and forensic anthropologist Dr. Anna Williams, whose research on the 400+ volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted during human decomposition underpins the project.

Thanatos is inspired by the observation that some of the decomposition VOCs are identical to some of the natural ingredients used in commercial perfumes. For instance, Indole, which is emitted in small quantities from white flowers such as jasmine and lily, is also present during various stages of decomposition, albeit in much larger quantities. Thanatos is thus a blend of floral and wood scents plus selected decomposition VOCs. It takes the audience on an olfactory journey from the scentscape of an open meadow to the middle of a secluded forest where a decomposing body is discovered.

The installation comprises four distinct but interrelated elements: the perfume Thanatos displayed as a physical product; the scent of Thanatos, experienced through interaction with a sculpture modelled on an autopsy table; The Search, a suspenseful short film of a search for a cadaver in a forest; and selected photographs from Traces – a series of staged crime scenes taken at the Crime Scene House at the Forensic Anthropology Department at Teesside University.