The Orange Video Stills
The Orange
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The Orange Video Stills
The Orange Video
Design Academy Eindhoven
MA Contextual Design
Mar. 2022 - June 2022
MA Contextual Design
Mar. 2022 - June 2022
First used in 2008 by the IDF on Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank, is a foul-smelling liquid named Skunk water. Developed by an Israeli company called Odortec, it is falsely marketed as a non-violent, humane method of crowd control. Skunk is frequently shot out of water cannons that sit atop tanks and it is known to completely destroy clothing and objects that it comes into contact with, due to its stench that does not dissipate. The putrid smell of the chemical compound is known to last for days on skin and oftentimes induces a medical reaction for those who it comes into contact with.
Miles away in Eindhoven, NL, a similar, albeit much less violent tactic is employed on the most popular nightlife street in the city, called Stratumseind. At night and on the weekends, the smell of orange is diffused as a way to relax potentially aggressive behaviors of patrons. It is a control tactic previously tested in a Rotterdam prison, which led to a 10% decrease in the use of sedatives on inmates.
The Orange investigates the weaponisation of scent through a comparison of the use of scent as a method of crowd control in both Eindhoven and Palestine. The film, in conjunction with the continuous diffusion of the scent of orange, is used to pervert what is typically considered a harmless or benign smell—making the idea that it could be reappropriated for a more sinister use unbelievable.
In the video essay, through the representation of a scent-controlled environment at its most extreme (Skunk Water), I argue that although Eindhoven and the occupation of Palestine represent two entirely different lived realities—there is an analogous relationship between the use of scent in both locales, existing on a spectrum of violence. In the same way, Skunk Water is used to ‘cleanse’ spaces of Palestinian inhabitants through smell, the use of orange on Stratumseind is an attempt to cleanse the area of those exhibiting aggressive behaviour that the government does not want to deal with.
The Orange attempts to create an evolving narrative surrounding methods of control and the notion of a lesser evil. Scent, typically perceived as one of our more useless senses oftentimes is given no thought, until one is struck by a putrid scent or one so pleasant it’s impossible to ignore. When scent is weaponized, it is perceived as harmless or posed as a much better alternative because the end result is not as permanent as death, but this way of thinking can be profoundly damaging. Through the use of language that suggests it is the lesser evil or a better alternative to an otherwise inevitable, greater future violence, it sustains the use of scent as a psychopolitical technique and allows for its further development.
Miles away in Eindhoven, NL, a similar, albeit much less violent tactic is employed on the most popular nightlife street in the city, called Stratumseind. At night and on the weekends, the smell of orange is diffused as a way to relax potentially aggressive behaviors of patrons. It is a control tactic previously tested in a Rotterdam prison, which led to a 10% decrease in the use of sedatives on inmates.
The Orange investigates the weaponisation of scent through a comparison of the use of scent as a method of crowd control in both Eindhoven and Palestine. The film, in conjunction with the continuous diffusion of the scent of orange, is used to pervert what is typically considered a harmless or benign smell—making the idea that it could be reappropriated for a more sinister use unbelievable.
In the video essay, through the representation of a scent-controlled environment at its most extreme (Skunk Water), I argue that although Eindhoven and the occupation of Palestine represent two entirely different lived realities—there is an analogous relationship between the use of scent in both locales, existing on a spectrum of violence. In the same way, Skunk Water is used to ‘cleanse’ spaces of Palestinian inhabitants through smell, the use of orange on Stratumseind is an attempt to cleanse the area of those exhibiting aggressive behaviour that the government does not want to deal with.
The Orange attempts to create an evolving narrative surrounding methods of control and the notion of a lesser evil. Scent, typically perceived as one of our more useless senses oftentimes is given no thought, until one is struck by a putrid scent or one so pleasant it’s impossible to ignore. When scent is weaponized, it is perceived as harmless or posed as a much better alternative because the end result is not as permanent as death, but this way of thinking can be profoundly damaging. Through the use of language that suggests it is the lesser evil or a better alternative to an otherwise inevitable, greater future violence, it sustains the use of scent as a psychopolitical technique and allows for its further development.