Olfaktoriska lager - En fenomenologisk undersökning av doftkonst i utställningen Sense Me.

Abstract

Olfactory art is a relatively new field of study in the art historical field and the existing literature is predominantly based on a distanced interpretation of olfactory artworks. In order to explore the gap caused by this position, this thesis delves into the physical experience of two olfactory artworks from the exhibition Sense Me at Trapholt Museum – Olfactory Forest and Smoke Cloud. Methodologically the thesis is situated in the convergence of the phenomenological experience and the structure of toposmia – odours relation to place and notions of place. Theoretically the thesis instrumentalize Rachel Hann’s theory of scenographic place orientation and Gernot Böhme's understanding of the aesthetic atmosphere. The results show that the olfactory experience is never fixed or set – it happens as an affective atmosphere. The olfactory artworks are also shown to have the capacity for othering a normative experience of worlds.