Most important is not the smell but the consequence of the smell. After a disaster, what happens to all of us is that our brain does not manage to make the parallel between what exists and what has disappeared.
Nicky Alfonso professional fisherman.Delacroix, Louisiana, US.
To this day, this sentence remains the guiding principle of my research. And I dare to hope that my library of scents serves precisely to bridge the gap between what remains and what has disappeared.
This map is a close-up of the different locations in the state of Louisiana. Showing eight different locations with a selection of eight scent samples extracted from these places. Each visit was made in partnership with various fishermen (Joan and Thomas, Gonzales, Nicky Alphonso, Gayle and Lawrence, among others, as well as Richie Blink (Delta Discovery Tours). These samples are part of a library that currently contains 20 samples. In February, I was invited to take part in the Odorous Object conference at Brown University - devoted to the most essential and most neglected sense. From neuroscience to ancient, medieval, and contemporary histories, from clerical rituals to politics of odor, scent unfolded as knowledge, memory, and power.
Organised by Chanelle Dupuis, Jasmine Larak and Clara May. Graphic designer Erik Kiesewetter developed this highly stylized map of the regions and extraction sites. Each scent sample was in a small glass jar and then placed on this map at its exact extraction location.
—Photography: Jonathan Traviesa
— Map design: Erik Kiesewetter
