Whilst reflecting upon the work of Victoria Henshaw I have just stumbled across a website about the research, analysis & design of Sensory Maps by Kate McLean www.sensorymaps.com. McLean created the below map with the help of Michael Meighan (author of “Glasgow Smells”) as well as Glasgow-based commuters, residents, workers, tourists, and Glasgow City council. The work went on display at the Glasgow Science Center in September 2012.

McLean makes really interesting cross-sensory, boundry-less, scale-defying work about the curiosity of landscape, and those that might take an interested in it for various different reasons. She described a recent mapping experience as,

“…a perfect example of exformation; “understanding how little we know.” (Hara, K 2009 “Designing Design”) Exformation leads us to curiosity. Curiosity leads us to creativity. Creativity leads us to knowledge. “To know something is to impregnate the senses with an inspirational, vital, exciting experience.” (Ibid.) Knowledge excites us.

It is time to stop trading information and start using exformation to question what we know, to raise more questions than answers. This is the epistemology driving future smellmapping projects.”

I like Kate McLean – let’s embrace exformation (and remember how many words the Eskimos have to describe snow – I write this with tongue in cheek to make a point about relevance and communication).