Why does this Mike Kelley artwork smell? | ART AND THE SENSES

We typically refer to the “visual arts,” but we experience art through all five senses. Our new ART AND THE SENSES video series explores how artists help us understand and question our perceptions, one sense at a time: smell, hearing, taste—and that biggest taboo in a museum, touch.

In our first episode, we explore how the sense of smell unconsciously tells us what’s clean and safe versus what’s dirty and threatening. Why does it summon vivid associations and memories? We focus on Mike Kelley’s major installation "Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites," in which hanging clusters of stuffed animals playfully draw you in, conjuring childhood memories. But when the large “deodorizers,” shiny sculptures on the walls, spray a disinfectant on the candy-colored creatures, they become suddenly ominous. The smell fills the gallery and unlocks new questions: Why do these need to be cleaned? What’s wrong with them?

In this short documentary set in Cologne, Germany, and New York, an expert in scent production and dissemination, a curator, and conservation scientists take us behind the scenes to find out how the “Mike Kelley” scent gets made and what it uncovers about our expectations and memories outside of the museum. As curator Paulina Pobocha puts it, “We were talking about the scent component and whether we need warning labels, and I thought that was a little silly living in New York, where you’re bombarded with scents left and right and there are no warnings. It’s part of the world that we live in."

00:00-00:46: Scent is a new world
00:46-2:18: Mike Kelley introduction
2:18-3:54: Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites
3:54-6:09-: Science of smell
6:09-7:32: Making the Mike Kelley scent
7:32-9:25: Unboxing and smell test
9:25-11:25: Good vs. bad smells

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The comments and opinions expressed in this video are those of the speaker alone, and do not represent the views of The Museum of Modern Art, its personnel, or any artist. 

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