Feb 18, 2024: Creating Artwork inspired by Taste and Smell
Assigned Teachers: Arani, Piyumika, Suren
Introduce the theme: "Creating Artwork Inspired by Taste and Smell”
Discuss the connection between art and our senses (see notes for volunteers below)
Share examples of artworks that evoke taste or smell sensations (see below).
Encourage students to think about their favorite tastes and smells.
Notes for Volunteers
Vision: Sight is perhaps the most commonly associated sense with art. Artists use colors, shapes, lines, and forms to create visual representations of ideas, emotions, and experiences. Visual art encompasses a wide range of mediums, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and digital media.
Hearing: Sound can also inspire and influence art. Music, for example, often evokes emotions and moods that can inspire visual artists to create artwork. Additionally, sound art is a genre in which artists use various auditory elements, such as recordings, installations, and performances, to create immersive experiences for the audience.
Touch: Texture plays a significant role in art, allowing viewers to engage with artwork on a tactile level. Sculptors, for instance, manipulate materials to create textures that invite touch and exploration. Textiles and mixed-media artists also incorporate various textures into their work to add depth and interest.
Taste: While less commonly explored in traditional art forms, taste can still influence artistic expression. Culinary arts, for example, are a form of art that engages the sense of taste, with chefs creating visually stunning dishes that are also flavorful and aromatic. Additionally, some artists incorporate edible materials into their artwork, blurring the lines between taste and visual art.
Smell: Like taste, smell is not as frequently explored in traditional visual art forms but can still influence artistic expression. Certain artists incorporate scents or fragrances into their work to evoke specific memories or emotions. Additionally, the sense of smell can be indirectly associated with art through the creation of environments or immersive installations that incorporate scent as a component of the overall experience.
Overall, our senses play a crucial role in how we perceive and interact with art, enriching our experiences and allowing for a deeper connection to the creative process and the artwork itself.
Examples of Artworks
Otobong Nkanga’s “Anamnesis”, shown at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018, is a long freestanding white wall, with a dark, river-like incision running around it at nose level. She filled the incision with aromatic coffee beans, chopped tobacco leaves, cloves, and other spices of the kind that had been exploited in the African colonial trade. As visitors walked along smelling the brown slash, they were given a palpable experience of Nkanda’s anti-colonial message.
Belfast-born artist Jack Coulter to SMELL COLOR, artwork is an interpretation of some fragrances
Multisensory British Artist, Kate McLean, Captures New York City’s Distinctive Scents
In the installation of Smell, The Beauty of Decay: SmellScape Central Park, designed by Sissel Tolaas, visitors touch the wall that has been painted with the special paint, releasing the scent. Matt Flynn, Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
You will need
Volunteers to bring along: Different spices, preferably NOT powder, so texture, color and smell can still be observed, herbs (all best from the home kitchen)
Basic art supplies: paints, brushes, pastels, collage materials, and paper.
Guide
Step 1. | Visualization and Observation (20 mins):
Conduct a guided meditation or sensory exercise to help students visualize their favorite tastes and smells.
Provide various scents and flavors for students to smell and taste, such as fruits, herbs, or spices. (SPICES ARE EASILY AVAILABLE IN EVERY HOME, BRING SOME TO CLASS)
Encourage students to observe the colors, textures, and shapes associated with each taste or smell.
Step 2. |Making and Problem-Solving (30 mins):
Transition from observation to creation, allowing students to express their sensory experiences through art.
Provide a variety of art supplies: paints, brushes, pastels, collage materials, and paper.
All students are to pick one taste/smell from the following:( encourage all to select different ones)
Bitter
Smoky
Sweet
Sour
Spicy
Rotten
Minty
Floral/flowery
Fishy
Burnt
Salty
Woody
fruity
Encourage experimentation and problem-solving as students translate their sensory impressions into artwork (we would like a scene including the taste/smell, not only one piece representing it)
Offer guidance and support as needed.
Step 3 | Community Building (15 mins):
Share and showcase artwork within the group.
Encourage students to discuss their artistic choices and interpretations with their peers.
Foster a supportive environment where students can appreciate and learn from each other's artwork.
Step 4: Conclusion and Reflection (10 mins):
Gather for a brief reflection on the class experience.
Discuss how creating artwork inspired by taste and smell challenged students' creativity.
Encourage students to reflect on their own sensory experiences and how they translated them into art, their likes, and dislikes
Emphasize the importance of using our senses to inspire and enrich our creative endeavors, with the perspective to be yourself and embrace uniqueness!