Dennis Doyle

Pale Blue Gas, 2021

Air pollution tumbles and chokes the exterior atmosphere, but also fills our homes. In my series Pale Blue Gas, one specific indoor air pollutant, ozone, is explored as both a toxin and trigger of memory. Electric motors spark the production of the pale blue gas, often invisible to the eye but easily detectable to a sense of smell as it fills our lungs. Ozone is a primary scent, one that cannot be described by a combination of other scents: it is peculiar and precise. In reading online forums discussing the scent, people relied on memories as olfactory descriptions, making a connection between a toxin and intimacy. Each text-based piece is created using an office or domestic tool that produces ozone and references memories people have of the particular scent of the gas. The running of a copier machine and blending of the smoothie creates both an intimate embodied memory and a pollutant. A toxin and everyday action are intimately linked, exploring how to engage with waste in a climate already permanently polluted and highlighting its presence even within the protective walls of our homes.