Osmospheres

Offering an overview on the relationships between smell and atmospheres as proposed by philosophy and the humanities, this volume interprets the “olfactive” as a cross-sensory, affective and ecological modality of perceiving. Osmospheres — i.e., the olfactory irradiances which provide persons, commodities, situations and places with an aura, a vague but unique flavor — are investigated through the perspective of relational and social aesthetics. Food is the main case-study as it exemplifies the porous boundaries between subject and the environment, identity and alterity, knowing and feeling. In the light of contemporary artistic and marketing practices, where food osmospheres are staged to convey emotions and to drive consumer behavior, the idea of osmospheric foodification seems to capture the essence of today’s urban and domestic dwelling. This work speculates on its socio-political aesthetic implications.