Anwyl Cooper-Willis and Tommy Cha, The Future’s Past   The rhinencephalon, the olfactory region of the brain, develops early in foetal life and is active in utero. Like the organs of sight, the chemosensory organs are outgrowths of the brain in direct contact with the external environment. Thus molecules sensed as smell can diffuse directly into the bloodstream. Recent work has shown that certain scents can enhance cognitive responses in experimental subjects, whereas others may have inhibitory effects. The sense of smell is direct and ancient and arouses powerful emotional responses.

The aim of this installation is to pre-curate future reactions to specific smells so that strong memories of the Time Machine experience are induced when the olfactory triggers are re-encountered. Visitors to the installation will
not be aware until they leave that their future memories have been deliberately curated.

Anwyl Cooper-Willis and Tommy Cha are members of alldaybreakfast and are interested in investigating human responses to contemporary cultural milieux. They have worked together over the last few years on various exhibitions including No Images of Women at The Island, Bristol (2014) and at The Factory, Porth (2015) and on “Concrete Evidence” an earlier model of the Time Machine trialled at Plymouth Art Weekender (2015).