27 January is the day for everyone to remember the millions of people killed in the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. The Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 marks 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. On this day I take the liberty to share a few lines I recently discovered in a book by Marcus Smith. Continue reading “A stench beyond experience”
Tag Archives: Germany
Attention economy
“So we thought an odor couldn’t hurt” – MARTIN KIPPENBERGER
Wo bleibt der Duft? A new whiff of politics?
In the ongoing election campaign in the German state of Bavaria the neoliberal FDP tries to sell the political agenda with the whiff of a new car scent and triggers some controversy. What is “aseptic” about it as the FAZ argues? Is it authentic? Or is this a new step of fake politics? Continue reading Wo bleibt der Duft? A new whiff of politics?
“Scent Culturalizing” the end of an industrial era
Germany will shut down its remaining black coal mines by the end of this year. This plan seals the fate of the sector that powered the country’s industrial revolution and post-war economic miracle. Since its early beginnings in the early 1970s this fundamental shift has had widespread implications the former industrial heartland of Germany. Given its links to human memory smells are medium of choice to work on the end of an industrial age.
Thus, the Art Museum at Mühlheim an der Ruhr takes this opportunity to invite Helga Griffiths, an artist who has been working across the boundaries of science, technology and different media (including the sense of smell) for quite a while. We have previously wrote about her work.
For the upcoming exhibition (6 May – 16 September 2018) Griffiths starts with coal as a material for different transformative processes. Destillation technologies are used to arrive at the essence of coal. A special scent edition will be offered on the occasion of this exhibition (allowing the user to keep memories of this passing industrial age).
Smell matters in migration politics!
In the context of the ongoing controversy on migration politics in Germany, Thomas de Mazière, the Federal Minister of the Interior, joined the group of advocats of a Leitkultur: “Wir sind nicht Burka”. Continue reading Smell matters in migration politics!