The odor (or bouquet, to oenophiles) of that wine is composed of dozens of
different volatile chemicals, and each chemical has several submolecular features.
The American Lung Association recommends limiting your exposure to ammonia and chlorine bleach, as well as
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be released from
different cleaning products, such as some air fresheners, dry cleaning
chemicals, and oven cleaners.
As a material «insensibl [e] to contradiction», wax's ability to take imprints of the unique landmarks of the skin connects it to strategies of surveillance and data collection that measure visual, behavioural or
chemical characteristics, connecting Hershman Leeson's hotel tableau to her later invented character.14 The artist described Roberta Breitmore as «my flippant effigy» and «a dark, shadowy, animus cadaver».15 Similarly, The Dante Hotel was for the artist simultaneously a scene of death and «a means of survival».16 As such Thek's and Hershman Leeson's
volatile effigies connect two very
different bodies of work and
different political movements — the counterculture, gay rights, women's liberation — to make visible the restraints placed on the subject.