Famous Deaths recreates the final moments in the life of a famous person by means of scent. Smell Princess Diana’s fatal destiny, John F. Kennedy’s tragedy, Gaddaffi’s desperate flight in a sewer or Whitney Houston’s last sob.

We all know the images of that open car that slowly drives through the streets of Dallas, the President happily waving to the crowd. And then those few fatal shots. What must it have been like to be near that car? Famous Deaths is an innovative way of documentary storytelling where you experience these intimate moments as smell tableau.

You smell an autumn wind, the grass, the leather car seats, Jackie Kennedy’s perfume, exhaust fumes mingled with the somewhat musty scent of that limousine, and then suddenly the penetrating scent of blood, brains and gunpowder drilling its way into your nostrils.

Famous Deaths is an installation consisting of four mortuary freezers in which you immerse yourself alone. It reconstructs these moments as closely as possible, using only sound and scents. By taking away any visual keys, you experience these portraits more intensely. The four scented portraits can be experienced separately.

Lead Designers: Marcel van Brakel, Frederik Duerinck.
Coding: Mark Meeuwenoord, Marcel Boonman, Daan Rijnkels.
Fragrances and Advice: Caro Verbeek, Jorg Hempenius, Peter de Cupere
Design Team: Wander Eikelboom, Thijs Eerens, Simon Kentgens, Martijn de Ruiter
Students: Iris de Brouwer, Thomas Neelemans, Kirsten Pollé
Illustration and Photos: Paul van ‘t Hullenaar