Eeva-Liisa Puhakka:
Smells may be the last thing on earth to die
7.–29.4.2023
Open
Wed–Sun 12–18
Opening on Thursday 6th of April at 17–20
Finissage on Saturday 29th of April at 17–20
The exhibition consists of an olfactory sound installation called Leave the Mind, Leave the Body (also known as Smell of Death) in the basement floor and the space leading to it, and biodegradable and recyclable art works on the entrance floor that deal with olfaction and even more so the life cycle of the organic material.
The exhibition aptly coincides with spring time, when after a long winter the natural world returns to life little by little. The exhibition explores the body, its odours, and its decomposition, how materials circulate and the transformation of one material into another.
Leave the body, leave the mind is based on scientific studies examining how the smell of the decomposing body can be categorised into four stages. A poetic narration guides people through all four stages: starting from the pleasant smell of flowers to the unpleasant, revolting, burning rubber types of smell to finally ending with mild woody, wet notes.
By providing a permeable connection to our constantly changing surroundings, scent reminds us that we are all in a constant state of becoming through ecological osmosis. Olfaction enables us to reach beyond our haptic limitations to touch and meld with what we can’t quite grasp otherwise: air, water, growth, death and decay. In other words, scent situates and implicates us within the lifeblood of ecology.
Some of the biodegradable works may change during the exhibition. They may lose colour - but that will bring out a new structural side of the work. Is it possible to live in a world with less colour?
You can also experience the work ”Leave the Mind, leave the Body ” as an individual performance by making an appointment later. (Duration will be approx 15 min.)
Eeva-Liisa Puhakka works in practices that include olfactory art, installations, sound and text. She is a founding member of Scent Club Berlin and the Artist of Kouvola City (2020–22). For more info about the artist:
www.instagram.com/eevaliisapuhakka
The exhibition is kindly supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Arts Promotion Centre of Finland.