Conception of SYS: THE SMELL OF A MYTHOLOGICAL BEING

Human mammals smell differently depending on their emotions – when we are afraid, we smell unlike when we are in a state of ecstasy. When we are sick or young, we smell different than when we are old or angry. What we eat and drink, how we sleep and what we enjoy also contributes to our body odor.

In the course of working on our arts-based research project SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS – Exploring the Potentials of Multisensory Scenography for Systems Awareness, which is about conveying an understanding of living, complex systems – whether in nature, society or art – a not yet tangible being emerges beyond cognitive over­load, which we call SYS.

THE SYS (they / them)

A mythological and at the same time contemporary real being, a person who has developed ‘system awareness’ and is very much at home in a complex and challenging, constantly changing world – and enjoys it.

An embodiment that copes with multiple developments and crises in the socio-, eco- and techno-sphere, and gets along with a wide variety of people and entities and contributes to the well-being of all beings.

The SYS is a being that shows great joie de vivre and ­resilience. They are a fully ‘embodied’ being. They celebrate their body, they perceive very intensely with all their senses and trusts its sensory impressions. Their entire body serves as an instrument for perceiving the ­situations in which they find themself. They are fully aware that they are a sensitive living system that is undoubtedly embedded in and dependent on other living systems.

The SYS has developed a special sense for living systems and it is therefore not possible for them – or only possible with great overcome and effort, and associated with pain – to behave destructively and idiotically towards life and living systems. They have the impulse, a kind of instinct, to behave benevolently towards all living systems.

The PEEK research project SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS is working with international artists and systems scientists on the development of multisensory scenographies. Principles of living systems are translated into olfactory, auditory and tactile artworks/artefacts and are used experimentally. Created with artistic means the scenographies are supposed to provide sensory impressions helping for a better understanding and resonating with living systems.

General Systems Theory emphasizes that systems should be analyzed as a whole to grasp the complex interplay of their parts. It provides a foundation for understanding life, social systems, and artistic processes as dynamic, interconnected entities. This interdisciplinary concept identifies common principles across all kinds of systems. The arts-based research project SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS builds on this theory, in collaboration with the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (BCSSS).

Artists / Researchers (core team): Jeanette Müller, Paul Divjak, Alexandra Graupner, Anna-Maria Irgang

Scents by MUELLER-DIVJAK and Sanaa Al-Sagnia Amar

Since fall 2023 AIL is part of the research project SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS together with the artist duo MUELLER-DIVJAK. The Otto Wagner Cashier Hall offers a special opportunity to give insights to processes and activities of SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS. For the first time, the historical cabin in the hall is used for ongoing artistic installations to make methods more visible, relatable and comprehensible for a public audience. As the cabin is surrounded by a broad audience coming together in the cashier hall, it offers a chance to gather feedback and reactions to the project and the specific stages of studies that will be incorporated into the project outcome.

FWF PEEK-Project DOI: 10.55776/AR 776