Presented in conjunction with the symposium Test Sites: Experiments in the History of Space the Architecture Division at California College of the Arts presented the exhibition An Olfactory Archive: 1738-1969, the first exhibition devoted exclusively to the recent works of artisans and historians who harness scents, essences, and fragrances in the reconstruction and preservation of historical spaces.
This exhibition displayed several examples of this recent work, creating a brief image of possible and future archives of an olfactory past. Jennifer Bonner and Christian Stayner's project Olfactory Past was part of the exhibit that ran in early October.
Olfactory Past is a proposal for Borden Park in Edmonton Canada where eleven sculptural machines dispense scents to reconstruct a historical timeline of the park. Created over a hundred years ago at the edge of the city, the park has experienced dramatic physical and programmatic transformations that are no longer visible. A catalog of scents include a pre-settlement period (grazing bison and Alberta Prairie icefields), turn of the century events (leather of Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden and fairground rides), mid-century (City Beautiful Movement and ostrich feathers from the zoological garden), and finally mid-century to 1980s (barbeque and suburban athletics).
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