Hur doft kan fungera som medium i utställningars sammanhang - En analys ur ett tvärvetenskapligt perspektiv

Abstract

Fragrance as art, or as part of a work of art has in many cases been ignored by art theorists, despite the fact that a fragrance can contribute with an emotional atmosphere and meaning. Fragrance creations can be like stories, but this can easily be dismissed, due to the fact that fragrance is known to be somewhat invisible. As a result of different theories, it can be explained that scent is very much a question of a form of semiotics and communication, individually or in a multimodal context. There are also philosophers who believe that the scent has been treated unfairly as an art form. The empirical part of this study consists of three visited exhibitions in Sweden, where fragrance elements have been included. In recent times, more museums have dared to include fragrance as a medium in exhibition contexts, which may be an indicator that fragrance art will take up more space in our future. This essay describes how fragrance can work in exhibitions, and describes some methods and tools for this analysis. The results show that fragrance elements add something in their context, which in turn provides arguments for further analysis in our time.