Sensitive Worlds. A sensory history of the total work of art

Catalogue of the exhibition Sensitive Worlds. A sensory history of the total work of art, presented at the Musée International de la Parfumerie in Grasse (14 June 2024 - 12 January 2025).

The catalogue offers an unprecedented opportunity to re-read the history of art, and particularly the concept of total art, through the mobilisation of all the senses. In the course of her research into olfaction, theorist Sandra Barré has observed a return to this concept in contemporary art. Three French artists, Tiphaine Calmettes, Camille Correas and Florian Mermin, have taken over the Musée International de la Parfumerie in Grasse, offering in situ experiences that combine vision, hearing, olfaction, taste and touch.

In addition, the example of seven polysensory works will enable us to consider the presence of these sensorialities throughout the history of total art: Valentine de Saint-Point's Métachories (1913), Alexandre Scriabine's studies for Le Mystère (1903-1915) and, in the second half of the 20th century, works by Carolee Schneemann, Lygia Clark, Bill Viola, Joseph Beuys and Jean-Pierre Bertrand.

These extracts from history are described through archives, usually available through the prism of sight (protocols, written testimonies, sketches, the artist's research, press articles, photographs) or, more recently, through hearing (mainly videos, sound recordings and radio archives). Here, odour comes into play in an attempt, through olfactory reconstruction or the use of scented materials, to add a sensory dimension to the archive and raise the question of what art envisages as scientific material.

In this way, we are opening up new avenues of conservation and the way in which history - and, a fortiori, the history of art - is written.