Event 2: CNSI Exhibit features Josely Carvalho's Diary of Smells, Shards

When I first entered the room, I noticed two tables with completely different set ups. On one side of the room, a table was ordained with a variety of different foods: kimchi, peppers, cinnamon, banana chips, peanut sauce, orange peels, lavender, and more. The table on the other side of the room displayed wine glasses, along with tiny glass containers with cotton balls inside. 

Josely Carvalho invited us to help ourselves to some food, and asked us to carefully acknowledge our accompanying senses. She excitedly led us to the other table, showing us all the different installations. Diary of Smells: Shards is an ongoing work in progress that invites us to employ our multi-sensorial perceptions. This project is interactive, and is based around the idea of olfactory, a forgotten sense that remains a powerful connector to memory and emotions. She explained how memory smells of forgotten moments emerge from shards of broken wine glasses. The smells she showed us are reconstructed from texts. Together, these texts are an olfactory's book, comprised of various stages of smell production and photographs. 

 


This art project carefully ties together the compilation of different smells with forgotten memories. I would relate this event to the Neuroscience + Art lecture, because neuroscience is anything about the study of the brain and the nervous system. Professor Vesna claims that artists are constantly fascinated by neuroscience and our consciousness. The making of memories and the sensation of smell are both related to how the brain perceives different events. However, memory storage is found in the hippocampus, while olfaction occurs when odorant molecules bind to specific sites on the olfactory receptors. 

I found this to be one of the most unique exhibitions that I have ever been to. The concept itself is very intriguing, and the artist was able to pull together such delicate elements to engage the audience's interest. 

SOURCES:

Carvalho, Josely. "Josely Carvalho Exhibition." Diary of Smells: Shards. University of California Institute for Research in the Arts. California, Los Angeles. 07 11 2013. Address.

"Neuroscience." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience-pt1.mov." YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.