Touch Assignment 1: SMELL

 

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake . . . another, hours of passion on a moonlit beach . . . a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a midwestern town."

Diane Ackerman remarked that there was "nothing more memorable than smell" (1). Smells can trigger feelings, like nostalgia, happiness, or trauma.  Sometimes it's hard to pin down why some things smell so familiar.  Maybe someone who wore the same cologne as your first love walked by.  Maybe the bakery makes rolls as aromatic as your moms.  Whatever the memory, the sensation of a familiar smell is powerful and can transport oneself back in time.  This 1-minute video I created reflects the tie between memory and smell.  I've kept the length of most of the clips less than half a second.  To me, this is the most accurate way to represent memory.  Without seeing photos or videos, it's hard to recount the events in our lives in great detail.  

Song: What Falling in Love Feels Like by Jacob Tyler Hoover

In A Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman discusses the history of perfume.  She specifically touches on the use of perfume and fragrance as an offering to the gods.  Ackerman notes, "Perfume began in Mesopotamia as incense offered to the gods to sweeten the smell of animal flesh burned as offerings," (56).  She also mentions that the Egyptians were among the first civilizations to use perfume regularly.  Ackerman states, "The Egyptians used lavish quantities of perfume and incense in their religious cults" (56).  For my animated composition, I parodied this by replacing an incense offering with a bottle of Chanel perfume.  This was a little comedic take on juxtaposing ancient and modern.  If the Egyptians hadn't advanced the science of scent, we wouldn't have the fragrances we do today.  However, if I were a goddess, I would personally prefer Chanel over crushed beetles, flowers, and lead.