InterAccess is pleased to present Scentisizer, the second installment in our beta series of members-driven exhibitions and featuring the work of Rodolphe el-Khoury and Nashid Nabian.

Please join us for the opening reception on November 17 at 7pm.

beta provides InterAccess members an opportunity to exhibit and test work that is new or even still in development. This series of exhibitions is meant to strengthen the connection between the production and exhibition of new media work at InterAccess by showcasing members' projects in the gallery.

The beta programme launched in 2007 with beta in Beta, an exhibition of work by Malka Greene, Dave Kemp, Mark Andre Pennock, and Niknaz Tavakolian. Based on the success of that pilot project, InterAccess is making beta a regular part of its exhibition schedule. In their capacity as board members, both Malka Greene and Dave Kemp have returned to help select artists to show in beta.

Rodolphe el-Khoury and Nashid Nabian's Scentisizer allows for the orchestration and spatial deployment of complex fragrances by giving precise control over the constitution and diffusion of scent accords in dynamic compositions. A tangible interface combines haptic and graphic features for managing an array of sixty-four scent dispensers that maps a wide-ranging olfactory field. Users can manipulate individual scent containers, much like organ stops, to compose and time an accord in a direct and intuitive fashion. They can also control them with greater complexity and precision by means of a digital graphic user interface that allows for multi-channeled sequencing and modulation of scent tones and dynamics. The analogue controls provide the haptic means for tangibly sculpting and visualizing olfactory phenomena while the digital features add functionality and web connectivity, allowing Scentisizer to perform digitized olfactory scores stored locally or accessed wirelessly.

The installation features partial working prototypes of the scent dispensing array and interactive displays demonstrating the Graphic User Interface.

Production Team: Ali Yarbakht, Steven Avis, Mahan Javadi.

Rodolphe el-Khoury is Canada Research Chair in Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Toronto and principal at Khoury Levit Fong. He is the author of numerous critically acclaimed books in architectural history and theory. He has received several awards and international recognition for his design work at Office dA, ReK Productions and currently at KLF. el-Khoury's work aims for enhanced responsiveness and sustainability in the built environment with particular attention given to the architectural application of advanced information technology.

Nashid Nabian is a partner in Arsh Design Studio, a practice based in Tehran with several award winning projects to its credit. Currently a doctoral candidate in Design Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, her research focuses on the integration of responsive networked media in the design of public spaces. She is currently a visiting adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, teaching courses in digitally augmented architectures.