ARCHIVE OF SMELLS: LANDSCAPE IN-SILO
13.07.2026
Archive of Smells proposes an expanded iteration of a research-driven artistic practice that investigates how landscapes can be experienced, remembered, and archived through the sense of smell. Developed during the residency period, the project shifts attention away from dominant visual modes of mapping and instead engages with olfaction as a primary tool for spatial understanding. By doing so, it reveals an invisible yet deeply affective layer of place—one that is intimately tied to memory, atmosphere, and environmental processes.
At its core, the project approaches smell as both material and ephemeral: something that emerges through dynamic interactions between soil, vegetation, climate conditions, and human activity. Despite its transient nature, smell has a unique capacity to anchor memory and shape perception. This paradox—of being both fleeting and deeply persistent—positions olfaction as a powerful yet underexplored medium for artistic research and archiving.
During the residency, the landscape surrounding the site becomes a living laboratory. The methodology is grounded in walking as a form of embodied inquiry. Through repeated smell-walks, the artist navigates diverse environments such as agricultural fields, urban edges, and natural terrains, paying close attention to subtle atmospheric shifts. Walking functions not only as a method of data collection but also as a performative act that situates the body within the landscape, allowing sensory perception to unfold in real time.
During the residency, the landscape surrounding the site becomes a living laboratory. The methodology is grounded in walking as a form of embodied inquiry. Through repeated smell-walks, the artist navigates diverse environments such as agricultural fields, urban edges, and natural terrains, paying close attention to subtle atmospheric shifts. Walking functions not only as a method of data collection but also as a performative act that situates the body within the landscape, allowing sensory perception to unfold in real time.
Throughout these walks, scent-bearing materials, are identified and collected. The resulting collection forms a growing archive of smells, where each sample operates as a sensory fragment of place. Rather than striving for scientific classification, the archive embraces subjectivity, acknowledging the role of personal memory, emotional response, and associative thinking in shaping olfactory experience.
The project ultimately asks how we might understand landscapes differently if we prioritize what cannot be seen. What forms of knowledge emerge when we inhale rather than observe? How can scent reveal hidden relationships between environment, time, and human presence?
The project ultimately asks how we might understand landscapes differently if we prioritize what cannot be seen. What forms of knowledge emerge when we inhale rather than observe? How can scent reveal hidden relationships between environment, time, and human presence?
