CROSS-MODAL ART
NOSE MUSIC
In partnership with The Institute for Art & Olfaction, dublab, and Bighouse
Excerpt and images courtesy of IAO & dublab
An exploration of scent and sound.
Enigmatic creative company bighouse, in partnership with non-profit radio station dublab and the Institute for Art and Olfaction are proud to present “Nose Music” – a new box set.
About Nose Music
Presenting a sensorial addition to the music we love, this premium, limited-release box set contains ten custom-formulated fragrances, each inspired by a classic, groundbreaking album curated by dublab.
The accompanying scents have been carefully crafted by a group of boundary-pushing independent perfumers, selected and curated by The Institute for Art and Olfaction. Each scent was formulated to enhance the emotional experience of listening to its corresponding album.
Each box set also contains a booklet featuring essays and quotes on the relationship between sound and scent from Sigur Rós’ Jónsi, Elijah Funk of Online Ceramics, and more. In addition to highlighting listening and fragrance notes, the booklet contains original artwork from renowned visual artists and illustrators including Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers), Dave Muller, kozyndan, Chris Johanson and Johanna Jackson.. Each piece of art was inspired by its accompanying album and scent and is meant to provide visual stimulation to enhance the sensory experience.
The set contains:
Alice Coltrane’s World Galaxy (1972) with perfume by Ashley Eden Kessler (Studio Sentir) and art by kozyndan
Augustus Pablo and King Tubby’s King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (1976) with perfume by Saskia Wilson-Brown (Institute for Art and Olfaction) with art by Chris Johanson & Johanna Jackson
Brian Eno’s Another Green World (1975) with perfume by Ashley Eden Kessler (Studio Sentir) and art by Plastic Crimewave & Sara Gossett
Fela Kuti’s Upside Down (1976) with perfume by Saskia Wilson-Brown (Institute for Art and Olfaction) with assistance from Adedognin Abimbola and Anahita Mekanik and art by Frohawk Two Feathers
Kraftwerk’s Computer World (1981) with perfume by Ashley Eden Kessler (Studio Sentir) and art by eBoy
Nina Simone’s Wild is the Wind (1966) with perfume by Lakenda Wallace (Modern Peasant) and art by Kris Chau
Os Mutantes’ Os Mutantes (1968) with perfume by Maxwell Williams (UFO Parfums) and art by Jamie Wolfe
Prince’s Purple Rain (1984) with perfume by Rubia Homa and art by Dave Muller
Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life (1976) with perfume by Dana El Masri (Jazmin Saraï) and art by Tokio Aoyama
The Velvet Underground & Nico’s The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) with perfume by Julianne Sieun Lee (Sieun Scent) and art by Fernanda Coh
Los Angeles, CA and online. Limited edition 200 pieces.
Year: March 2024
WATER HAS MEMORY
From Meryem Meg’s artist statement
Water Has Memory is a body of paintings and a collaboratively produced scent that emerged from Meryem Meg’s research into the healing properties of water.
Expanding upon her interest in the appearance of water as it is found in the teachings of Islam, Meryem also became inspired by the scientific philosophy of Dr Masaru Emoto who found that water's composition transforms depending on the environment and energy surrounding it. Meryem was drawn to the knowledge that water is a charged element which picks up the information in its surroundings, she connected to this knowledge as a complement to her ongoing meditations on our coexistence with the natural world and its cycles as spaces for contemplation, healing, and connecting our outer worlds to the inner worlds of faith.
The ceramic vessels included in the exhibition were designed by Meryem specifically for the diffusion of a scent produced by perfumer Dana El Masri of Jazmin Saraï. The scent responds to the work and is intended to encourage a sensory immersion within the universe that Water Has Memory asks us to be within. Dana's choice of scents is intended to be reminiscent of warmth, water and the inside of the shell.
The forms of the ceramic vessels themselves mirror the Tayammum stone that Meryem’s paternal grandmother used for wudu and which the work Tayammum, (2021) directly references.
For Meryem Tayammum is a great example of the ease and opportunity that we can find in Islam, where alternatives are laid in our path that make practising faith accessible for all.
Material used:
Ceramic vessels hand mould and cast: red clay, white clay, yellow stone pigment, magnesium, salt, river water, green stone pigment, Ramadan rainwater.
Scent: Copaiba balsam, musk, oakmoss, sweet argan oil, sandalwood.
Marrakech, Morocco (and travelling)
Year: 2023
All images courtesy of Meryem Meg.
For more about this project, please click here.
SPOIL -
In collaboration with Artist & Educator Dana Prieto.
Excerpt and Images courtesy of Dana Prieto.
Spoil is a sensuous multidisciplinary meditation on the unsettling material remnants of colonial extraction in the hands of Canadian corporations. This olfactory installation brings forward deep smells of volcanic earth from around "Bajo la Alumbrera" mine, blended with sharp notes that resemble the most harmful contaminants instilled by gold-mining operations: arsenic and cyanide. This work was a part of "Grounding" curated by Maya Wilson Sanchez from September to December 2020 at the Art Gallery of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Rich mineral soil, terracotta, geosmin, plant matter, gun powder, apricot pits, unripe peaches, bitter almonds and garlic flowers.
Guelph - Toronto - Montreal, Canada
Year
2020, 2023
A cross-modal and multi-sensory movement piece. Six dancers; juxtaposed scent, light, colour, sound and costume design.
Body heat and friction from the scents placed on their skin and fabric released a fragrance, operating on a physical, physiological, and subconscious level.
Each dancer had a corresponding colour and scent, complementary to their movement and to each emotion. The soundscape was specially created for the emotion(s) and heavily influenced by the scents represented.
The audience was a part of the performance, breaking the observer/observed dichotomy, further creating an all-encompassing and participatory art experience.
Σ= the emotional bond between the dancers and audience; vulnerability through proximity, the sum of all variables, multiplied by motion (in this case, scent, sound and dance), immersion through the multi-sensory and connection through conscious transcendental meditation, an engaging communal experience.
Senses represented: scent, touch, sound, sight, and
time.
Artistic mediums/media*: Olfactory Art, Performance Art, Soundscape, Interpretive Dance.
Materials used: Essential oils, aroma molecules, cotton fabric, projections.
Concept by Dana El Masri, Choreography Fréderique 'Pax' Dumas.
With the support of Conseil des arts de Montréal.
Montreal, QC, Canada
Year: JULY 2019
ΣMOTION
Scent x Photography
A multi-sensory and immersive exploration of the female form in all its luminous shades.
Illustrating the creative magnitude of when two women of colour from variant life experiences and backgrounds unite to create a novelty artwork.
The combination adds a new dimension to the visual medium, creating a multi-sensory experience that blends sight and scent, fragrance and figure.
PALETTE provides a sensory insight into the female gaze and will be a feast for the senses. All scents used were in the gourmand fragrance category.
Montreal, QC, Canada
Year: MAY 2019
PALETTE
IN COLLABORATION WITH CANDICE PANTIN
SOLO EXHIBITION
Features scent & sound showcased through the selection of raw materials, each representing special herb titles from MF Doom's 'Special Herbs' compilation album.
Materials: Bergamot, Cedar, Benzoin, Saffron, Pennyroyal.
Montreal, QC, Canada - Ausgang Plaza
Year: JUNE 2018
METAL FINGERS DECONSTRUCTED: SELECT SPECIAL HERBS
With Veronika Bartosch, Elinor Samuelsson and multiple team members from various disciplines.
The scent was created for a multi-sensory pod incorporating 7 senses to reduce stress, built for a kinder world.
Cardamom, sandalore, musk and other calming ingredients were used.
Sweden/ New York / Boston, United States
MIT Hacking Arts
Year: NOV 2016
THE KOKON
Scent of juxtaposed beauty and morbidity, embedded in rope.
Ingredients used were meant to evoke dirt and mud with a slight hint of decayed leaves and damp rainforest.
Arlington, Virginia, United States
Year: OCT 2016
MELANCHOLIA
IN COLLABORATION WITH ARTIST, MARION COLOMER.
