“Whisky is liquid sunshine'' (George Bernard Shaw).

That liquid sunshine contains thousands of compounds that determine its aromatic profile. Origins Molecular Symphony, is one of the most unique Whisky collectibles ever created. Using +65.000 lines of chemical analysis data from +830 samples of spirits from around the globe as an artistic canvas, the collection transforms the invisible aromas of Whisky into visual masterpieces.

These works by Siddhartha Kunti, with olfactive nanotechnology crafted in collaboration with Sissel Tolaas, transform scent into visual form through the deconstruction and digital translation of its molecular structure. Centering smell as both medium and origin, they preserve olfactory heritage as a living, sensory archive.

‘’Digital art has entered a new era. Siddhartha transforms scent — the most elusive of senses — into a visual language. Combining whisky’s deep cultural history with advanced molecular analysis, he expands what Digitalism can be. This is truly groundbreaking work, proving that the future of digital art is multisensory, scientific, and profoundly human. — Rebekah Tolley, Curator of DIGITALISM, British Art Fair’’

Why Art & Scent?

Olfaction is one of the most complex sensory systems in the human body, that is the reason it is the last sense to be digitized.

Every scent, aroma or perfume is a marvelous cocktail of individual molecules that dance together to create a harmonius thing we call a smell. It's the reason why one person describing a wine says that they smell strawberries whilst another person smelling the same wine says oak wood. Both of them are correct, they just singled out a different component of the system.

The goal of my work is to help people see, understand and engage with the complex system that smell is and how it profoundly affects our emotions, our memory and ultimately our wellbeing.

Art with Impact

The works are created with four main elements in mind:

1. Cultural preservation: Every Artwork is based on scientific data and by archiving and storing this chemical/olfactive data, scents can potentially be recreated in the future. The works can thus be seen a timecapsule representating a piece of cultural fabric.

2. Education: Art is a powerful storytelling mechanism, I use the works to educate young kids about the importance of scent and the STEM fields.

3. Awareness: The art is slow moving on purpose to help us slow down in a fast-paced environment. By visualising something that is invisible, the work hopes to make people pause and marvel at one of the hidden dimensions around us.

4. Not AI art: The methodology of visualising scent and the building of the first collection (Origins Molecular Syphony) took two years. Whilst AI is used for processing the large quantities of data, no artistic output is created using AI. The visuals, based on the scientific data, are created using manual sculpting and operations in 3D modeling software.