Sissel Tolaas

en

Born Norway. Grew up in Iceland and Norway. Based in Berlin since 1987. Studied mathematics, chemical science, linguistics and languages, and visual art 1981 – 1988: Oslo Royal Academy and Oslo University; Warsaw University; Moscow University; St Petersburg University; Oxford University, Princeton University. Travelled and lived all over the world. Speaks and writes nine languages. Different national and international scholarships, honours and prizes. Working actively and concentrating on the topic of smell / smell & language - communicaton since 1990, within different sciences, fields of art and other disciplines.  Tolaas has worked with numerous companies and institutions, and active participation in international colloquiums, conferences and networking i.e.: BBC Imagineering, London; Sony Computer Science Lab, Paris; IFF Inc. New York; MARS, ZH Suisse; IntelligentFastFood Inc., Salzburg/Vienna; Statoil New Energy Program, Norway; Charité Humboldt University Hospital, Berlin; Max Planck Institute, Berlin; Cartier, Paris; Louis Vuitton, Tokyo; E. Lauder Paris/NY; City Munich; KPMG (law) Berlin; BMG SONY, Germany; Showstudio/Nick Knight, LondonSwissotel Worldwide; Daimler Chrysler Future Lab, Berlin; PAL Foundation, London; Rockefeller Foundation, New York; Bangalore High tech Park; DEKA Bank/Holdings Frankfurt; The Boston Consulting Group, ZH/Berlin; BayersSchering Inc. Siemens GmbH; San Francisco Neurosciences Institute, SF ; Humboldt University, Berlin; Tsinghua University, Beijing; Columbia University, New York; Parson The New School For Design, New York; Vienna University; Oxford University; NESTA, London; MIT Boston; Harvard University; Liverpool University; Oslo University; Moscow University; Stanford University; TU, Berlin; Toronto University, Toronto etc.

Rouse Foundation Award 2009, Harvard GSD.

Ars Electronica Award 2010.

Synthetic Aesthetic Award Stanford-, Oxford University + Harvard Medical school, 2010.

Research on invisible communication & rhetoric i.e. Harvard University: Mexico City, 2001- 2009

Established the RE_searchLab Berlin, on smell & communication/language in January 2004, supported by IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.).

research

research expositions

  • An Alphabet for the Nose. (2011) author(s): Sissel Tolaas published in: Journal for Artistic Research
    Given that our societies have developed a language for colour, it is remarkable that we have not yet developed one for smell. Generally, when we categorize smells we only use the subjective connotations ‘like it’ or ‘don’t like it’. This is why I began to invent the first words for a language of smells, which I named NASALO. After nearly twenty years of collecting and archiving smells and dozens of artistic research projects on smell and smelling, NASALO has developed into an alphabet for the nose with its own logic and linguistic rules.
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