smells unseen

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Photo courtesy of peterdecupere.net

The small town of Herford, located between Hanover and Dusselforf, is home to Frank Gehry-designed Marta Herford museum. From June 8 – June 15, 2014 you can test and train your sense of smell. Belgian artist Peter De Cupere uses scratch and sniff technology in his invisible (SCENT) paintings of olfactory art, which is part of an interactive sculpture and architecture show.

JUNE 8 – 15
Marta Herford
Goebenstraße 4–10, 32052 Herford
Fon +49.5221.994430-0
e-Mail
How to get to Marta Herford with Google Maps

 

the scent of rock

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John Waters would be proud: Twangy 60s-inspired rockers The Black Lips are taking a cue from his unforgettable film Polyester by layering the aesthetic experience of visual art with smells. Predictable olfactory accompaniments include garbage, weed appear in a line-up with some more ambitious scents like cedar wood, squid ink, semen, and ‘moon.’ The band say that their latest shows will be enhanced by a scent diffusion machine, a device they commissioned from some French friends. So far, one concert-goer has reported no special odors beyond that of those from your average rock venue. Perhaps they should seek out venues in a more sterile environment with little to no ambient smell. A science lab? Keep your nostrils open when they blow into your town.

Polyester trailer and scent cards for sale on Ebay.

neon sunshowers

Newcomer to the world of niche fragrance, Dana El Masri is lighting up with her mutlisensory creations. Her line Jazmin Saraï translates music into olfactory compositions. Each fragrance invites you to smell the music that inspired it.

Imagine a scent that captures the beauty and spunk of of MIA. Jazmin SaraïNeon Graffiti (2004) shimmies and slides along the nostrils in time with Sunshowers. It pops top notes of electric citrus and mango, moving slowly through an herbaceous, tropical green before eliding into a soft beach bonfire made up of cedar incense. Where the opening notes are effortlessly youthful, the dry down has the gentle woodsiness of Miller et Bertaux‘s bobo chic fragrance, A Quiet Morning. Once you get your hands on this bright scent, perfect for summertime, you’ll want to blast MIA on repeat.

san francisco smells

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SPUR and the California College of the Arts have designed “Urban Olfactory,” an immersive exhibit to transport you to special spaces and places in history. Some of the more daring and disturbing concoctions are urban pollution in San Francisco and a putrefaction  from distant Paris. While not all of the scents are offensive, however, the exhibit as a whole is not for the faint of heart. If you can’t get there, read more about it in this SF Weekly article.

Urban Olfactory is free and open to the public
January 30, 2014 to March 31, 2014

SPUR Urban Center Gallery
654 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
 

olfactory architecture

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Don’t miss the California College of Arts scent event, Olfactory Archive: 1738 – 1969, an exhibit devoted to scent art in architectural history curated by  David Gissen and Irene Cheng. The opening reception will be held this Friday, October 11 at 7pm. The event and exhibits are free and open to the public. Artists represented include Aaron Betsky, Herzog and DeMeuron and Christophe Laudemiel.

Here’s look at the exhibit up close: Olfactory Archive

Olfactory Archive runs October 8 – 13, 2013
Nave
1111 Eighth Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.703.9500

drunken art

ImageImageBelgian scent artist Peter de Cupere has been busy. His current installations at Middle Gate Geel ’13 “Wine Table” and “Drunken” invites spectators to explore the connections between religion and emotion in outsider art. The smell component is, as one would expect, the smells of the alcohol transposed into the body of the artist.

This image of the stereo sound odor device gives some clues about what Peter might be developing in a future project.

“Drunken” is ongoing until December 22, 2013

Fri, Sat, Sun  10:00 tot 17:00 (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu closed)

De Halle, Markt 1 – 2440 Geel
Gasthuismuseum, Gasthuismuseum 1 – 2440 Geel
St. Dimpnakerk, Sint Dimpnaplein – 2440 Geel
Kunsthuis Yellow Art, Pas 204 – 2440 Geel