For La Biennale di Venezia’s 17th International Architecture Exhibition the curator Hashim Sarkis, Professor and Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, chose the theme “How Will We Live Together?”. Sixty nations participated to respond, where three new countries included Grenada, Iraq, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The theme was bolstered by five sub-themes all exploring the plurality of human existence socially, politically and in nature. Among the research, the visuals, the haptic …
Tag: Biology
“The Sirens’ Call” * Short Story * Michael Emeka
Thunder muttered in the sky and the rain threatening all evening came in a soft drizzle. The enormous rats scuttling around in the pile of rubbish across the road darted into their holes. A stench of putrefaction rose from the refuse dump as the rain beat on it. Pushing open the front door of the building, I raced inside, pursued by the rain and the smell. My footfalls echoed on the bare concrete steps as I went upstairs. Somewhere in …
Read More "“The Sirens’ Call” * Short Story * Michael Emeka"
Digging into the Chemistry of the Creepy Smells of Blood, Death, and Darkness
When we think of scary, we ordinarily think of the sights–dark hallways and spider webs, bloody masks and crumbling gravestones, and to a lesser extent, sounds–creaking doors and spooky voices–cue Vincent Price’s Witchcraft Magic!–but what about creepy smells? So many write about the nostalgic scents, the comforting ones of kitchens and gardens, lime-flower tea and madeleines, but what about those creepy smells we prefer to avoid or forget–those of blood and the grave, caves and decay? What makes them provoke …
Read More "Digging into the Chemistry of the Creepy Smells of Blood, Death, and Darkness"
Sandalwood: From the Perils and Intricacies of Forestry to the Rarified world of Perfumery
Sandalwood reminds me of entering homes with objects from faraway lands. My aunt and uncle had such a home, with artifacts collected in world travels scenting the almost sacred space. When I entered the familiar yet exotic realm, my child’s imagination and consciousness expanded to include worlds beyond the tiny one I occupied. As Deniz Ataman, managing editor at Perfumer & Flavorist put it in an email, “At the root of it, perfumery is about sharing the essence of the …
The Corpse Flower & Goethe, Dying Into Being
*This Distill My Heart about the infamous corpse flower and its unsavory pollinators is a little bit stinky creepy crawly, a little bit anthroposophical sweetness, and was first published at Quail Bell Magazine.* Most people know Goethe as the author of Faust and other literary works. But Goethe was also a keen amateur botanist who was very proud of his scientific writings, despite the fact that they fell flat in his own time–both because he was not a member of …