Democracy of the Senses

When we think about a democracy of the senses, the sense of sight is predominant, followed by the sense of hearing. What factors would we be aware of if the focus were on the sense of smell?

The installation The Austrian Democracy Lab – Fragrance Edition reflects social trends and disruptions and encourages us to engage in a discourse that is not just verbalised but also sensual. The six exclusively crafted perfumes are one-off creations. Each was composed from a range of over 150 biological and synthetic aromatic substances and has an olfactory uniqueness that it is impossible to reproduce. Certain nuances of the fragrances created for the installation could be completely unknown, whereas others may smell familiar, pleasant or unpleasant. But do they also contain the (aromatic) material out of which we can weave the fabric of social cohesion? What associations and images emerge when we sniff the individual fragrances of the edition?

The artist duo MUELLER-DIVJAK (Jeanette Müller, concept artist and political scientist – Paul Divjak, author, artist and parfumier) employs multimedia interventions, site-specific installations, sculptures, performances, collages, photographs and texts to reflect upon and research into the sensual perception of contemporary phenomena and the interaction between living systems.

Download the installation flyer: Democracy of the Senses (DE: Auf den Spuren des Geruchs)

Curated by: Christina Hainzl

www.mueller-divjak.art
www.trustroom.com
www.pauldivjak.com

Photography: ©Renate Nakowitz

: Still an omnipresent social factor; gender-neutral and widespread, despite all the progress made by society.

: Colonialism continues to cast a shadow; Europe’s domination of distant lands is still shaping social, political, economic and ethnic structures around the globe.

: Do our sensitivities extend beyond our moral and political assumptions as we live for the common good and according to moral principles – or are we only too keen to vainly display these assumptions as a way of promoting our own dominance and impressing others?

: Humanism shaped our idea(l)s and our desires; today, however, these ideals only appear to be available in homeopathic doses.

: ‘Eco grief’, our sorrowful response to the destruction of habitats, biodiversity and the world as we think we know it: Is this triggering a forward-looking response or is it simply paralysing us?

: Is this an example of thoughtfulness and empathy that reaches below the surface, or a way of using buzzwords that has little to do with social reality?