A new project opening Sat Jan 14

Chris Tinnen and I have been collaborating on a project that will open at 500X on Saturday Jan 14- the Society for Olfactory Preservation.

 

The Society for Olfactory Preservation: A Manifesto

We, the members of the Society for Olfactory Preservation, or SOP, wish to present a few specimens of some of the most celebrated historical odors, which we have painstakingly kept intact for the benefit of humankind.  We believe that the tyranny of the visual and textual has overtaken the most significant of all human senses for the most accurate understanding of our history, that is, the sense of smell.  It is a well-known fact of science that the olfactory sense is the one most tied to memory.  To truly experience these pivotal historical moments, it is imperative that one imbibes through the sensitive organ of the nose.

The odors that you will be privy to inhale have been preserved in their original inviolate forms through the centuries.  Members of our elite society have been meticulously collecting these samples for hundreds and even thousands of years with the knowledge that future generations will apprehend these historic moments most completely upon experiencing the exhibit.  We advise that you approach each specimen with some trepidation as the intensity of the scent concentrate will transport you to another time and place, and this may prove disorienting.  Ladies may wish to have a gentleman present to aid her if she should faint.

(Giving credit when it is due- wife Linda wrote the manifesto after listening to Chris and I ramble on)

The idea originally came up a few years ago- Chris and Lupita Tinned were over at Linda's and my house a few years ago and some ideas were flying around the room, and it just sort of came to Chris and I almost spontaneously- The Museum of Smell - and we looked at each other and said, "We have to do this."  It's about four years later, (maybe five) but here is the first incarnation.

We're installing on Friday.  Chris is making the pedestals (which will probably be the best pedestals ever made) and I have been working on the "Interactive Olfactory Dispensers" which, oddly enough, look a lot like little cameras.

Some commissioned work- Gibson Guitar

My good friend Chris Grooms- an English professor at Collin College who also happens to be an amazing guitarist.  He's one of the world's foremost experts in traditional Welsh folk music.

This is one of the prize guitars from his personal collection- one of the last truly hand-made Gibson acoustics from the 1920's.

Wetplate is not very sensitive to yellow, so the guitar body ends up looking much darker than it did in person, but I love how that made the whole body have the thin outline around it from the edging.

Tintypes record everything backwards, horizontally, so the writing comes out reversed.  The letters are actually mother-of-pearl inlay.  This guitar is beautiful.   It was a pleasure to get the chance to photograph it.

 Chris also snapped a few pictures as things were progressing-

The general state of my studio.  Note the foamcore softbox!

Coating collodion on the plate, letting the excess pour back in the bottle

One of the true magical moments of the process- seeing the image come up in the fix.

 

Linda and I inspecting the plate in the first wash.

A good way to spend an afternoon.

Pretiosissimi Sanguinis

An edition of images I made last week for including in the 500X Holiday Sale.

Pretiosissimi Sanguinis- 1 through 4

The title is from "Litaniae pretiosissimi Sanguinis Domini Nostri Iesu Christi", or "Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ."  A litany that may be read in Catholic services, it dates from 1960.

I'm not Catholic, but I have a great respect for the power of Catholic symbolism.  The concept of the Eucharist - the ritual transformation of the simple matter of bread and wine into the the body and blood of Christ, to then be ingested as a means of communing with the divine - is fascinating to me and I can't say exactly why.  As a non-believer I can't follow the belief that the bread and wine are literally transformed in the process of consecration- but I am also somehow envious of those who do believe it.  To literally ingest your savior seems like a kind of intimacy that would feel incredibly powerful to those who do.

Perhaps I am just a spiritual tourist and it's not right for me to dabble with other people's sacred rituals, even in so oblique a fashion.  But I do find the symbolism of the Catholics very deep and resonant.  After two-thousand odd years of practice, they did do a few things right.

Mind is Perpetual Motion - Its Symbol is the Sphere

This large shiny plastic ball was sitting by the side of a busy street about a year ago- I think it was a giant Christmas tree ornament hanging from a tree branch.  I shot this series of plates as part of an idea to present multiples, presented together to highlight the process variations and chemical wierdnessess.