Students and Visiting Artist Emeka Ogboh Collaborate on "Multi-sensory Portrait"
This spring, students in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Art and Technology/Sound Practices (AT/SP) classes collaborated with internationally renowned artist Emeka Ogboh to create a multi-sensory portrait of Chicago. Facilitated by the Goethe-Institut and SAIC’s Visiting Artists Program, Ogboh spent time with graduate students and three AT/SP courses exploring how the city might be translated into scent, taste, sound, and image.
The project culminated in a dynamic event at Hairpin Arts Center on April 25, featuring student sound installations, poetry readings, and olfactory works. One lasting outcome—true to Ogboh’s past practice—is a locally brewed craft beer created in collaboration with Sketchbook Brewing, a local brewery that is co-owned by SAIC Professor Shawn Decker. The beer they created is a brown ale called Sonder Track, which blends notes of malt, caramel, and cocoa with aromas of tobacco, leather, coffee, and tonic nut. The label reads, “it invites you to pause and consider the depth in every passing moment.”
Sonder Track will be available at Sketchbook Brewing in Skokie, IL, with a release celebration scheduled for August 29.
