Smells are notoriously difficult to catch, conserve and categorize. In my talk I illustrate how olfactory experiences attained their ambivalent and neglected role in the contemporary “Western” sensorium – and how  a variety of design and urban planning practices attempt to integrate olfactory experiences with their visual, accoustic or haptic approaches.

Why, however, does olfactory design so often seem to be doomed to fail? Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork on interactive exhibition making I suggest that we often misunderstand smells and their modes of action because of a visual bias.

An olfactory installation will be included in the presentation.

Susanne Schmitt (Dr.phil) is a social and cultural anthropologist based at the University of Munich. She works on science museums and public aquariums, sensory ethnography, the anthropology of science as well as gender and queer studies.

 

When and Where?

When? Tuesday, October 16th, 2012. 19:00. Import IxDA Munich Calendar
Where? Sapient, Arnulfstraße 60, 80335 München, Deutschland. Map
Registration: on XING (registration not needed but appreciated)

 

Sponsor

Special thanks to Sapient for hosting this event and for providing snacks and drinks.