Art Olfaction Amsterdam presents
PLAYHOUSE
Mondays are fun-days with curated experiences, games, engagements and more.
With Kendra Gaeta, Saskia Wilson-Brown, Thijs Elich, Renske van Vroonhoven (Attic Lab), and IAO team.
The Institute for Art and Olfaction, Mediamatic and some very special guests team up to present three monday explorations into the outer reaches of scent culture. From lab safety strategies to a real live aromatic game show (with some human-smells extraction exercises to spice things up), anything goes in the IAO’s playhouse. You can definitely expect eclecticism, gonzo experimentation, and plenty of aromatic adventures.
PROGRAM
Playhouse: How Not to Hurt Yourself and Others
Mon. Jul 16, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CET
at Mediamatic Aroma Lab
With IAO team
Always wanted to set up your own at-home perfume lab? Great! Let’s show you how. Join the IAO team to learn the basics you really need to know, including how to make solutions, working on a scale, health and safety, and much (much) more.
In the How Not to Hurt Yourself and Others playhouse, we will first spend some time smelling and examining regulated materials, poring through some of IFRA’s recommendations. Then we will do a few scale exercises as small groups, followed by exercises making skin-safe solutions. We will cover diluents and different scent applications, discuss and examine scent taxonomies, and end the session smelling and – for the brave – applying a very unsafe blend: “Veneneo”, by Miguel Matos.
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Playhouse: Sex S(m)ells
Mon., Jul. 30, 7:00pm to 9:00pm CET
at Mediamatic Tuinkamer
With Renske van Vroonhoven (Attic Lab), Thijs Elich, Saskia Wilson-Brown, Kendra Gaeta
Join Saskia Wilson-Brown and Kendra Gaeta (IAO), Thijs Elich, and Renske van Vroonhoven (Attic Lab) for an exploration of extractions with a definite blue movie twist. From enfleurage to expression (tee-hee), our internal explorers will have you – and your body parts – well covered.
In the Sex S(m)ells playhouse, we will start by blind smelling molecules associated with the human and animal body. The group will split up to take on one of three exercises attempting to extract aroma from human materials: We will tincture material taken from the participants’ armpits, do enfleurage on used underwear, tincturing dirty socks, and more.
Finally, we will make an attempt to recreate the extraction of aroma described in Patrick Süsskind’s ‘Perfume: Story of a Murderer,’ using a (live) human subject – an experiment that will continue through the course of our time in Amsterdam.
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Playhouse: Kendra’s Smelly Game Show
Mon., Aug. 13, 8:00pm to 10:00pm CET
at Mediamatic Barn
With Kendra Gaeta, IAO team
The nose (and you) knows more than you think! Be amazed by your knowledge and compete in Kendra’s Smelly Game Show. Ever watched a spectacular game show and thought: ‘Hey, I could do this much better’? Well, now’s your chance. Step into this live studio experience and prove the power of your sniffer-whiffer!
A variety of stage games like Name that Fume, Message in a Bottle and Animal Instincts test your innate ability to differentiate and memorise smells, determine fact from fiction, and guess which scents come from wild animals.
Prepare for broken noses as you battle against new friends or future colleagues, or enjoy the sweet smell of success by becoming the Grand Prize Winner! All smellers are welcome, regardless of experience. Players will be grouped, so bring friends or meet new ones.
ABOUT ART OLFACTION AMSTERDAM
Mediamatic and the Institute for Art and Olfaction (IAO) team up for a summer program in Amsterdam, exploring innovative topics around olfaction.
Both Mediamatic and IAO have an organizational focus on exploring future outcomes and contemporary applications in science, art, and the senses. Between July 16 and August 15, 2018, the IAO’s Los Angeles team will be in residence at Mediamatic in Amsterdam in the first part of an ongoing collaboration between the two organizations.
Through thematic collaborative programming at Mediamatic’s Oosterdok waterfront location, we will combine our interests and communities to investigate new models for intellectual property, and to celebrate storytelling, future flavors, scent-making, and much more.
All events take place at Mediamatic.
Art Olfaction Amsterdam is possible through the generous support of IFF, Pochpac, and dublab.