"This global pandemic is just the most recent large-scale illumination of the unsustainability of our global systems, but a closer look at any major political or environmental event will more than likely show entry points for olfactory engagement. As we inch toward the end of the world, or at least the edge of this iteration of it, finding these possibilities for olfactory resistance reminds us that our bodies already have the skills we need, and that the most resilience can be generated when we relearn how to use them together."
(Edreva, 2019, p. 63)
(Edreva, 2019, p. 63)
Would we have an increased chance at survival if we could better notice, identify, analyse, and articulate smells? Contemporary artist-scholars such as Eleonora Edreva argue that we can train our noses to resist the technocratic, neo-liberal capitalist manipulation of our senses that continues without consequence. Drawing on Edreva's provocations, Olfactivisms (2022), the culmination of my site-responsive work at SERF, considers the notions that my olfactory art engagements could be framed as a gentle form of activism. Olfactivisms was a participatory experience that invited local artists, curators, scientists, and writers to come together to winter solstice 2022 on-site at SERF to experience a smellwalk guided by a field book and an olfactory dinner party to conclude.
Partcipants Smellwalking SERF, 2022, QUT, image © L Davies
Olfactivisms, Lowana Davies, 2022, participatory experience that invited local artists, curators, scientists, and writers to come together to winter solstice 2022 on-site at SERF to experience a smellwalk guided by a field book and an olfactory dinner party to conclude. QUT, Samford Ecoogical Research Facility