The Olfactory

Abstract

'The Olfactory' aims to exhibit a widest possible range of Olfactory Art.

'The Olfactory' started as a travelling exhibition concept in a movable container. This container had a central place at the Mad-Faculty campus in Hasselt, Belgium. From there 'The Olfactory' traveled to various cultural and educational venues in other cities.

'The Olfactory' was organized by Peter the Cupere and got the support of the Mad-Faculty Mad-Research, University College PXL and the University of Hasselt. The container was sponsored by Katoennatie, with facilities in Europe, the Far East, North and South America and Africa, Katoen Natie acts as a global supplier of logistics and distribution services. 'Olfactory' means the sense of smell.

'Olfactory Art' is the term that is given to works made with or combined by fragrance(s).

In addition, 'The Olfactory' is also a reference and a tribute to The Factory by Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol loved and collected perfumes!

The first exhibition of 'The Olfactory' was a Scent Space in which one can observe only perfumes. The space was adapted to work perfectly inside with fragrance(s) per se. In this first exhibition the link to Andy Warhol was made ​​clear on the basis of a text from him. Below is an extract of the text that was gepublished in The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) "by Andy Warhol.

"I switch perfumes all the time. If I’ve been wearing one perfume for three months, I force myself to give it up, even if I still feel like wearing it, so whenever I smell it again it will always remind me of those three months. I never go back to wearing it again; it becomes part of my permanent smell collection. ... Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting are just not as powerful as smelling if you want your whole being to go back for a second to something. Usually I don’t want to, but by having smells stopped up in bottles, I can be in control and can only smell the smells I want to, when I want to, to get the memories I’m in the mood to have. Just for a second. The good thing about a smell-memory is that the feeling of being transported stops the instant you stop smelling, so there are no aftereffects. It’s a neat way to reminisce....'

Fun fact, perhaps apocryphal: Andy Warhol was buried with a bottle of the Estee Lauder perfume, "Beautiful."

In the container project were 33 one-day exhibitions organized during 8 weeks (some exhibitions took place spread over more days). Not all the exhibitions will be described here. More info on the website of The Olfactory vzw

List by date of the exhibitions organized in the traveling container:

01. 15 min. Perfume Space in Honour of Andy, 15 September 2014 02. Invisible Scent Paintings, 16 September 2014 03. Scented Tears, 17 September 2014 04. The Olfactory Art Manifest, 18 September 2014 05. Perfum Bottles in Art History, 19, 20, 22 September 2014 06. SCENTED KISSES, 23 September 2014 07. SOUND SCENT / SCENT SOUND, 24 September 2014 08. Scent chess in honour of Takako, 25 September 2014 09. SWEAT SOUND INSTALLATION, 26 September 2014 10. GEWELT by Jorden Boulet, 29 September 2014 11. 'The Product of the Product' by Elissa De Groote, 30 September 2014 12. Smell-Movie 'Sniff Receptor' & Scented Movie 'Paris, Mon Amour’, 01 October 2014 13. 'Pseudokyesis' by Lien Hillen, 02 October 2014 14. OLFACIO, The First Recognition App for the iPad!, 03 October 2014 15. 'STAINED MILK' by Sarah Reynders, 06 October 2014 16. Guy Bleus - 42.292 CEO SMELL ART, 07 October 2014 17. THE SCENTED BRICK by Peter de Cupere, 13 October 2014 18. DISTILLATION AND SCENT AS A MONUMENT FOR HASSELT, 14 October 2014 19. ODOR IN HEALTH ENVIRONMENTS, 15 October 2014 20. SCENT ART - SCENT ARCHITECTURE - SMELL MAP OF HASSELT, 16 October 2014 21. In Honour of Victoria Henshaw, 16 October 2014 22. THE BEE LABORATORY by AnneMarie Maes, 17 October 2014 23. SCENT AS A MONUMENT FOR HASSELT, 18 October 2014 24. GEURONDERZOEK AAN DE UHASSELT / Hoe geuren consumentengedrag beïnvloeden, 20 October 2014 25. 'TOUCH & SMELL THE COLOURS OF THIS WORLD' by Peter de Cupere, 23 October 2014 26. DEFLOWERING, 23 October 2014 27. 'TOUCH & SMELL THE COLOURS OF THIS WORLD' by Peter de Cupere, 24 October 2014 28. THE SMELL OF WAR - PRELUDE by Peter de Cupere, 25, 26 October 2014 29. THE FRAGRANT MASTER STUDENTS, 28 October 2014 30. DEFLOWERING 2, 28 October 2014 31. DRUNKEN by Peter de Cupere, 29 October 2014 32. CAFLO YROT 1874 - 1970 "Solve et Coagula" Dissolve and unite, 30 October 2014 33. BLIND SMELL STICKS & GLOVE, 06-12 November 2014

The name The Olfactory is kept to become the non-profit organization 'The Olfactory VZW' to promote Olfactory Art in generally. The first exhibition concept made by The Olfactory after it became a non-profit organization was the exhibition The Smell of War in Poperinge, BE. in 2015