From chaos to order

ArtEZ University of the Arts

2023

Score: Taking chances with dices. Use chance (dices) to devise a brief for a project or installation

Brief: Based on ideas from conceptual art use embroidery to create an olfactory installation experienced in 30 seconds

Coffee

On a fine day, I wake up, get ready, dress my children, and as I walk down the stairs, I can smell freshly made coffee. My husband makes it for both of us. If there is one thing that can bring me back “home” is the contemplation of quiet 90 seconds, where I can sip coffee before leaving my house. I stare right into the depth of my mug as if there lied another dimension, one I could escape to for a moment. Holding a mug signals the message “I can’t play with you now because I am having my coffee” and for those 90 seconds I am secluded from responsibilities. It is my order amidst chaos.

Peanut butter

Home means food, or where food is prepared, for a chef, their kitchen is sort of their home. At meal times, families all over the world prepare food for their loved ones. For breakfast in my house, we eat all sorts of things, but nothing smells so good as peanut butter on hot toast. The floor is covered with toys, dust, food stains from previous dinner, there is a yellow stepping stool blocking the way, two scooters where the dining chairs should be, crumbs on the untidy couch, and the kitchen counter is unforgivable, and yet I find peace in the soft warm scent of the peanut butter toast I just made for my daughter. It is my order amidst chaos.

Mandarijn

Happy-go-lucky, sunny smiles, playing in the swing, mommy prepares mandarijnen “with help” from Alice, she finds it too difficult to eat, instead delights herself feeding mommy, one slice at the time, her closeness, her tiny hands, her giggles, nothing else matters, it is the oneness that we become when we feed one another, no other thoughts. In this moment, I rest assured that the world will stop now, for in this very moment I need to be fed by my baby. She brings me back “home”. It is my order amidst chaos.

Wine

Nine o’clock, here everything is fine, the clock has just struck nine, nine o’clock is wine o’clock and everything is fine. Order has arrived, the house is quiet and tidied up, it is silent, the lights are dimmed down, I hear a clinking sound of glasses, will they be wine glasses? “Do we still have wine?”. It is the end of the day and a glass of wine seems like an adult reward for a “good job”, yes, we deserve it. This is order, I’ve arrived.

Can I create feelings of order through smell?

Which smells bring you a feeling of order?