Cross-modal Performance and Smell Organ

Bruno Mesz and Sebastián Tedesco

Museo Casa Carlos Gardel, Buenos Aires International Tango Festival 2019

The work consists of a performance where a “smell organ” is used to play a series of tangos that have been “smellified”, in order to explore the cross-modal and emotional effects of aroma on the perception of music.

The “smell organ” is a cross-modal system that associates notes (in fact, pitch classes) of a piano with a series of spatialized aroma release devices. The selection of the aromas that smellify each tango arose from an investigation of the olfactory references in the universe of tango lyrics. Examples: Legui cane (caña Legui), hair gel (gomina), wisterias (“glicinas”).

Piano performance: Bruno Mesz

Collaborators: María Zegna (aromas),

Technical collaborators: Carlos Sztaynberg, Leonardo Potenza, Camilo Álvarez