OLFACTION EXHIBITION
OLFACTION PRESENTS EIGHT PIECES OF VISUAL ART WHICH CONTAIN AN ELEMENT OR AN ALLUSION TO THE SENSE OF SMELL. ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE BY NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS TO SUBVERT THE DOMINANCE OF THE VISUAL SENSE WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE OLFACTORY. THE WORKS WILL EMIT SMELLS AMONGST OTHER ARTWORKS IN SMALL INTIMATE SPACES AT THE EMPTY SHOP GALLERY.
EMPTY SHOP, DURHAM
Internal/ External
Materials: Aluminum, steel, plastic, pigmented/ fragranced soap water, air pump, nylon tubing
Function: Expels a scented and colored soap mixture onto wall. A scented soap mixture is used for the mix. An aroma builds up which smells of artificial fragrance, which is similar, and also in contrast to the cold mechanical object which expels it. The object served as a demarcation machine. The soap mixture is expelled continuously slowly over an extended period of time. Soap bubbles form in the mixture. A thick sludge builds up on the wall and floor over a short period of time.
Internal/External is an exploration of several themes including communication and personal expression. The red liquid stored internally within the machine becomes external as it is expelled onto the surface of the gallery wall. During the process of expulsion, the red liquid becomes another form as it is converted into a lather or soapy sludge that fills the air with a synthetic floral scent. This process is a metaphor for an idea that comes to fruition and the difference between what it was and what it has become once it is externalized.
Internal/External is an exploration of several themes including communication and personal expression. The red liquid stored internally within the machine becomes external as it is expelled onto the surface of the gallery wall. During the process of expulsion, the red liquid becomes another form as it is converted into a lather or soapy sludge that fills the air with a synthetic floral scent. This process is a metaphor for an idea that comes to fruition and the difference between what it was and what it has become once it is externalized.
The Mark Porter exhibition at the Ann Arbor Art Center will open June 25 and run through July 25, 2004. The exhibition will feature kinetic, viewer interactive sculptures as well as related lithographs and drawings. The exhibition will be designed so that as the viewer moves through the exhibition space, movement will trip a motion sensor that activates each work of art. The sculptures will perform a function that mimics a unique type of human and/or animal behavior.