The Smell of Art

4 CommentsBlog, , , , ,

ivan-tirado-9897

You may agree that art is in a sensorial experience. However, when you visit a gallery or a museum you are only allowed to look at the art. They might be playing some background music. That covers a second sense. In some gallery openings you can sip wine and eat something while appreciating the art. Three senses covered. Touching the art is off the question. But why? Those textures are so tempting. You want to touch. Don’t you? Some artists don’t mind people touching the art. Specially sculptures. You are allowed to touch sometimes if you ask nicely. That covers four senses. How about smell? Do you care about the smell of the gallery or museum? Do you care about the smell of art? Smells can trigger memories, images, and even bring back past experiences to the surface.

FreedomIn Sigmund Freud’s Bread Pudding Case Study, the patient was connected to her childhood trauma through the smell of bread pudding which triggered memories of her suffered abuse by her father. All memories don’t have to be sad. They can trigger happy thoughts too. In fact, smells can trigger all kinds of memories. Not only memories but also emotions and sensations. Marcel Proust knew all about it. In his poetry, Proust connected vivid descriptions of the outside world from his rest bed. He could not move out of his room physically but the aroma of fresh baked bread travelled into the room taking him away all because he remembered that smell from when he was a child.

I confess that I smell my hands when I work with clay. It takes me back to the college days at the studio. Sometimes I sniff my finished sculptures. It is a way for me to confirm they are ready for show. When I enter a gallery I breath in. The smell of the gallery sets the mood before I look at the art. If the smell is not pleasant I turn around and leave. While appreciating a piece I keep my senses alert which serves as a neurological bridge that interconnects neurological receptors for a longer lasting connection.

Visual Intelligence

2 CommentsBlog, , , , , , ,

There are three classes of people:
those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Howard Gardner proposed in Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences that intelligence as ‘one thing’ is too limiting to account to the broader range of human abilities and capabilities. He separates intelligence in nine modalities (I’m sure that the list will continue growing):

  • Linguistic intelligence
  • Logical-mathematical intelligence
  • Spatial (Visual) intelligence
  • Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence
  • Musical intelligence
  • Interpersonal intelligence
  • Intrapersonal intelligence
  • Naturalist intelligence
  • Existential or spiritual intelligence
Look Up

Look Up by Iván Tirado

It is possible that the first group of people coming to mind when one hears ‘visual intelligence’ is artists. Not only people who can draw, paint, sculpt, or design have visual intelligence. Visual intelligence is extended to sports. Court vision in basketball is important to shoot and pass the ball. The same applies in football, baseball, and boxing. Dancers too require that sense of space when they perform. Even today’s video games require visual intelligence with those virtual words that make me dizzy about five minutes into the game.

I do believe that artists have visual intelligence indeed. I also believe that artists share bodily-knestetic intelligence too in order to transfer their vision into a tangible creation. Bodily-knestetic intelligence is not only for sports and dance. I believe we can call it ‘technique’.  Artists also share logical-mathematical intelligence. Moreover, artists are also existential or spiritual intelligent. Why it seems like I’m focusing in artists and visual intelligence? Well, I am an artist. I also stink at music and most sports. The fact is that my favorite aspect of visual intelligence because it is not about what we see with the eyes.

Blind people develop visual intelligence to make sense of their environment. Is that perception of space that goes beyond the world we see. Visual intelligence can inform the other intelligences allowing us to become aware of a different kind of world. We can close our eyes and see it. Our senses become consumed with it. This intelligence allows the development of problem-solving skills, capturing and interpreting information, and perceived the world we see with the naked eye and the world not seen. Leonardo Da Vinci called it ‘the reflective eye’. Leonardo believed that ‘the artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of‘.

A Tale of Two Sculptures

17 CommentsBlog, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last year during one of my shows, I observed a lady coming in to look at the artwork as I was talking to someone else. After looking at all the sculptures, she came back to Abased. She stood there for a while. Then she moved towards Freedom and stood there for a while. She went back to Abased, then back to Freedom. I observed while this continued for several minutes.

abased freedom

Abased & Freedom

Done with my conversation I approached the lady and introduced myself. I mentioned I was observing her going back and forth between the two sculptures. She mentioned how the sculptures were almost talking to her in a way she could not understand or articulate. I told the lady the definition of Abased (belittled or degraded). Instantly the conversation took an interesting turn. She said:

“That explains a lot. This is how my husband makes me feel (pointing at Abased) but I want to feel like that (turning and pointing at Freedom).”

Without saying another word, she turned away and left. I was stunned and honestly wished she stayed around longer. I was curious to find out more about what the sculptures were saying (figuratively speaking). Still, three things were clear during this short interaction. First, art has the power to speak to people. People can find a connection in art that generates a silent conversation with the soul, the logic, and the senses. No words are necessary for this connection.

On the other hand, some people need some help when they try to articulate that connection; when they try to understand what they see, what they feel, and what they perceive. While it is not necessary to explain some people seek for a deeper understanding, a hint, a spark that provides and explanation they can ponder. Again, it would be better for art never to be explained. Nevertheless, some people want to express their connection. That cannot be denied. Otherwise, we might be shutting down their interest and a great opportunity to provoke consciousness.

[Read also: How to Explain your Art & Artists are Communicators]

That takes me to the third point: expressing the connection could be the first step towards healing. Too bad the encounter was cut short. When someone understands their internal situation (and sometimes external) through art, and consciously expresses that revelation, healing is possible. Articulating what no words can explain (which not necessarily is a contradiction) could transform a life, and that is one of the most rewarding achievements of art.

[Read also: Art Changing Lives]