Exhibitions

‘Digital’ and ‘smell’ seem like two mutually exclusive words, but in this little exhibition their conjunction makes perfect sense. Tracking Shot of Smells brings together a selection of videos from the colección olorVISUAL at the Fundación Ernesto Ventós, all of which were chosen to be part of the collection because they awakened the olfactory memory of its founder.

For the perfumer and collector Ernesto Ventós the video was a compilation of images that transported him by way of the olfactory memory to moments he had lived. As he often exclaimed, a video was ‘A thousand images in a single work!’, which rooted him in his memories and experiences, both personal and professional.

These videos also connect with the Gaudían imaginary of Casa Vicens: nature elegantly yet insistently invading the rooms of the house; colours that we find in every corner and smells that help us imagine the life of the family that lived in it.

Technology, colours, smells, memories.

Cristina Agàpito – Curator and Director of Art Fundación Ernesto Ventós

Location of the works on the first floor of Casa Vicens

A. Juan Carlos Bracho

my dèjà vu, 2017.

Vídeo monocanal 20’46”

What does a body in action smell like, performing a simple gesture, repeated thousands of times like a mantra. And the trace of that gesture; a disorderly sequence of red, green, and blue strokes from a multi-coloured lead pencil. What will those images smell like, made up of the infinite combinations of RGB. What does red smell like, and green and blue.

What does a blank screen smell like.

Sweetened-honey olfactory notes: honey, sugar, sweets.

Perhaps the smells of childhood, of joy and laughter.

B. Alfredo Porres Pla

Yellow, 2005.

Vídeo 3’30”

I

Yellow on white,
smell of fried egg:
For dipping bread.

II

loves me, loves me not, loves me, loves me not…

The flower loses petals in a spiral.
Doubt is fatal, debate cowardly, lethal
between two opposite poles.

III

A faint aroma of saffron
and a stench of sewage.
Impassive, the odourless complicity of white.

IV

Like a premonition,
before I understand it
I feel the stench.

V

Of grief and pain
I recognize the smell.
I no longer need to look to follow the procession.

Ozonic olfactory notes: waterfalls, snow, aqueous sky.

A subtle scent, nevertheless leaving its mark; relaxing, with a certain sweetness.

C.  Jordi Cabestany   

Travel in, 2014.

Vídeo in loop.

Arid land, dusty.
Old wooden trunk, resistant to time.
Wet, huddled leaves,
The vine shoots crackle underfoot.

Travelling over an abstract, non-existent territory. Filled with evocative matter, with physical landscapes. A sensory journey through memory and its textures.
A space, uninhabitable. An inner and abstract territory, in constant construction with lights and shadows.

A cinematographic movement links up with the experience lived between the individual and the scenery, the necessary shift akin to immersing ourselves in a territory. This dynamic relation hovers between the expectation of discovering new spaces and the nostalgia of remembering earlier travels.

Earthy fragrance notes: dampness, dust, particular tones of green.

Deep, heavy scents, of seasons in which it feels like everything stops.

D. Daniel Canogar

Synesthesia, 2019.

Vídeo in loop.

Synesthesia is a generative animation that uses our olfactori perception as inspiration. The world of aromas has been divided into 21 fragrances, each of which has sub-notes, for a total 75 distinct smells. Lime, thyme, amber or tobacco are examples of sub-notes, which appear on the screen as words with the color of the fragrance they are part of. The sub-notes are dragged along the screen, leaving a ripple behind them that evokes how scents linger in the air. The final composition is created by real-time meteorological data. After a location is selected, the words are dragged in the direction and speed of the current wind in the city of choice. A total of 21.000 locations world-wide are available, giving this artwork a universal scope.

Fruity/floral olfactory notes: pineapple, strawberry, apple, pear, geranium, rose, lilac, carnation…

Fruits and flowers in one single container: refreshing. Scents which are all inside our olfactory memory.