National Nordic Museum To Host “Scented Concert” w/ Jónsi, Sin Fang, & Kjartan Holm [Seattle]

Three decades after the grunge movement established the city as a cultural destination worth traveling to, Seattle can still feel isolated up here in the Northwest. All of the people I know living in what are commonly referred to as “flyover” areas would be eager to point out how much better we have it than they do in the entertainment department and they’d be right. It’s easy to forget what a big deal KEXP has become outside of here and we have some great venues, museums, and a ridiculous number of record stores. When I’m feeling sorry for myself, it’s more about those super unique, one-off events that cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco seem to draw that very rarely, if ever, make their way up here. But while it’s true that Bjork, who has toured recent albums in all of those locations, hasn’t been back to Seattle in over 20 years, her fellow Icelanders, Sigur Ros, do come through Seattle semi-regularly. Not only that, but Sigur Ros frontman, Jónsi (Jón Þór Birgisson), has formed a special relationship with the National Nordic Museum, that will see him participating in an intimate multi-sensory performance referred to as a “scented concert,” later this year. Things like this are a reminder that there are some amazing things around us and, sometimes, they’re occurring in the most unsuspecting places.

Last year, Jonsi teamed up with the Nordic Museum to present FLÓÐ (Flood), his first exhibition in the United States. Created specifically for the venue, the project sought to emphasize the connections between Seattle and Reykjavik. The two coastal cities signed a sister city agreement in 1986, coinciding with Reykjavik’s bicentennial anniversary. Seattle is home to the largest Icelandic community in the United States and there has been a long history of cultural and educational exchanges between them.

I visited FLÓÐ with my family and rather than the typical museum exhibition, it operated like an art installation and, even more so, an experience. It was held in a long room that was virtually pitch black. To enter, you were required to first step into a little pre-entry area and wait for that outer door to close, before opening the door to the exhibition space. It’s the same concept of a dark room, except the threat of external light sneaking in was so as not to disturb the people inside, rather than to prevent it from exposing film or photo paper. Inside, people were either seated or lying down, some along the walls, while a handful of others positioned themselves in the center staring up at a long strip of lighting extending the majority of the ceiling length. It was difficult to see in there, but the soft light would pulsate in reaction to a looping soundtrack which recycled around every 26 minutes or so, if memory serves me correctly. The speakers encircling the room played an ambient soundscape consisting of field recordings and a choir composition. It filled the room mixed with fog and a cool light mist. The theme spoke of ideas of end times and environmental destruction, as the exhibition worked to simulate the experience of a flood and being washed over by a wave traveling the length of the room. Assisting the effect was an olfactory component, which was described as “The scent of seaweed harvested from both the Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans … tinctured and distilled for disbursement through the room.”

In November, the museum will open a new exhibition titled Fischersund: Faux Flora and this time the focus on smell has become much more central to the project. Established in 2017, Fischersund is a family-run art collective and perfumery founded by Jónsi and his 3 sisters, Lilja, lngibjörg, Sigurrós. On their website; musicians Kjartan Holm and Sin Fang, of 7-piece indie-folk outfit, Seabear, are credited as partners. Described as “an immersive multimedia exhibition integrating scent, sound, sculpture, 3D-graphics, and photography,” Faux Flora “is inspired by the small number of native plant species in Iceland, as well as the scientific relationship between scent and memory.“

Full description/artist statement from the exhibition page below:

Faux Flora invents new plant species, the perfume and appearance of which elicit emotions and experiences. The exhibition is a sensorial display of human existence shown through the lens of plants. The plant life cycle—germination, growth, flowering, seed formation, and dispersal—is thus superimposed on the life cycle of a human. Imagined flora springs from universal experiences—birth, childhood, adolescence, maturity, and old age.

Today, technology permeates every aspect of our existence, and the distinction between natural and artificial is increasingly blurred. Faux Flora explores this idea further by creating a new world of conceptualized botany.

Faux Flora will open on November 8 with a scented concert in which Jónsi will perform with Sin Fang of the band Seabear and composer Kjartan Holm. To encourage exploration of the exhibition and its themes, the Museum has organized exhibition-related talks. On November 14, botanist Dr. Pawel Wasowicz of the Icelandic Institute of Natural History will trace the history and impact of plant immigration to Iceland; and on December 5, leading researcher Dr. Venkatesh Murthy, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Director of the Center for Brain Science at Harvard University, will talk about the connections between scent, memory, and emotion.

We received an email detailing the opening night festivities more specifically. Here’s the statement about the live performance, itself.

A unique concert experience will open the upcoming exhibition Fischersund: Faux Flora(Opens in a new window). Music is an integral part of Fischersund’s approach to scent. Both share a similar structure of mid-notes, low notes, and high notes. Music, like scent, is connected to memories and emotions, so the two work together in a harmonious way. Each informs the other and enhances its landscape. The Sounds of Fischer experience along with Fischersund-scented concerts are a unique and holistic sensory journey. Each of Fischersund’s concerts has been composed and performed by the brilliant trio comprised of Jónsi of Sigur Rós, along with musicians Kjartan Holm and Sin Fang of Seabear.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re interested in attending the opening concert. The first thing is that it opening takes place from 7pm – 10pm on November 8th. While the performance is technically open to anyone, tickets don’t go on sale to the general public until Friday, August 2nd. Early access is available to museum members now and there will be only 400 tickets available, so these aren’t going to stick around for long. Tickets for non-members are going to cost $75 a piece, while members only pay $50. If you’re not a member, the price doesn’t scare you, and you’re planning to wait, one thing you might want to consider is that a membership is only $55. If you’re looking to buy a pair of tickets, it would pretty much offset the price difference with the money you’d save at member price.

Finally, I have a scoop for you that you’re probably not going to hear anywhere else. EBT card holders can sign up for a full family membership for only $10! If you have one, that’s clearly the way to go. If you weren’t aware of the benefits that an EBT can bring you, we suggest looking into it, because it involves all kinds of perks including free access to MoPop.

You can link to the event page and pick up tickets by clicking HERE.