We all experience longing for another. It seems like technology has narrowed the gaps between us, but has it really cured the disease of distance?
“Smell Memory Tools” is a design research project on the role of olfaction in long distance relationships. The ‚Smell Memory Toolbox’ — a wooden box equipped with tiny glasses of different abstract scents — is the basis for an analogue ritual. A couple can create a scent together which becomes their shared smell memory. The ritual continues with the assignment to translate the scent into drawings with an abstract shape and color — a method used by smell psychologists. Both drawings are now turned into two knitted blankets which are impregnated with the beforehand micro-encapsulated scent. If the textile is touched it releases the scent and evokes a sensual olfactory memory of the other person.
In cooperation with Fraunhofer IZM Potsdam, Knitwearlab Amsterdam, Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin.
“Smell Memory Tools” is a design research project on the role of olfaction in long distance relationships. The ‚Smell Memory Toolbox’ — a wooden box equipped with tiny glasses of different abstract scents — is the basis for an analogue ritual. A couple can create a scent together which becomes their shared smell memory. The ritual continues with the assignment to translate the scent into drawings with an abstract shape and color — a method used by smell psychologists. Both drawings are now turned into two knitted blankets which are impregnated with the beforehand micro-encapsulated scent. If the textile is touched it releases the scent and evokes a sensual olfactory memory of the other person.
In cooperation with Fraunhofer IZM Potsdam, Knitwearlab Amsterdam, Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin.
