Caetano Mendes Dias is an interdisciplinary research-based designer, investigating the communication of the Osmocosm and ecological challenges in the discipline of design today. Caetano Mendes Dias We have been graced with five senses, but if we do not cultivate them, we might lose them one day. With the digital space, we have been disconnecting more and more from our physical reality. Obliviating the senses of smell and taste, the only senses that have a direct physical link to our brain. They are as relevant or even more relevant than our other senses, for we need them to have the full image of what we call reality. These senses evoke strong emotions in us, they were and are our initial self-defence mechanisms, the building blocks for our decisions. Today, there is a need to contemplate things - a need for lingering thoughts, critical thinking and imagination! For, many times, problems arise from hasty decisions that should have been thought out. Especially when actions are about to happen, we need to slow down, take a deep breath and smell! As an interdisciplinary designer, I use different media to reflect upon our current social challenges. I believe that multisensory experiences can awaken strong emotions in us, creating empathy and leading to moments of reflection. I have been exploring the sense of smell as a source of knowledge and a catalyst for change, to achieve a society that is more aware of their senses and interconnected with others, humans or non-humans. For a bespoke perfume creation tailored to your unique story, send me an email . EXHIBITIONS 2025 - ROOTS EXHIBITION . (Collective), Palazzo Giureconsulti, Milano, IT 2024 - GRADUATION SHOW . (Collective), Microstad, Eindhoven, NL. 2024 - HUMANS IN SPACES . (Collective), The Space Coolhaven, Rotterdam, NL. 2024 - DIGITAL FOCUS. (Collective), Witte Dame, Design Academy Eindhoven, NL. 2023 - THE SYMBIOCENE FOREST. (Collective), Bio Art Laboratories & DDW, Eindhoven. 2023 - ODOURS OF THE CLIFF . (Permanent) Centro de Interpretação da Reserva Mundial de Surf, Ericeira, PT. 2023 - PORTUGUESE SURF FILM FESTIVAL . (Collective) Galeria Orlando Morais, Ericeira, PT. 2023 - 2.ª BIENAL DE JOVENS CRIADORES DE MAFRA . (Collective) Galeria Orlando Morais, Ericeira, PT. 2023 - JAPANESE KNOTWEED FESTIVAL. (Collective), Mediamatic, Amsterdam, NL. 2023 - SILVA SYSTEM PRESENTS 01. (Collective) De Fabriek, Eindhoven, NL. 2021 - AWESOME, THANKS! (Collective) Design studio, Eindhoven, NL. 2020 - CONFINED.WORK. (Collective) Online. 2020 - FONTE DO CABO. Fonte do cabo, Ericeira, PT. PRESS KIT

DEEP BREATH is a scent which transports us to the deep sea and reminds us that, whether we are humans or extremophiles, having a nose or a chemoreceptor, we are interconnected with all forms of life on this planet. Deep breath research Chemosynthetic bacteria Hydrothermal vents Deep Breath scent Origins of olfaction Sources Chemosynthetic bacteria Chemosynthetic bacteria are chemolithotrophs that live under the extreme conditions of hydrothermal vents, thriving in temperatures that can reach up to 150 °C , and with pressures reaching 250 Atmosphere. They use sulfur compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide and elemental sulfur, produced by geological activity, as an energy source to create organic material, instead of using sunlight to generate energy. Chemosynthetic microorganisms help to support the biogeochemical cycle of sulfur. They form the base of the food chain in deep-sea ecosystems, sustaining diverse organisms such as tubeworms, clams, and shrimp with unique symbiotic and commensal relationships. Tubeworms, for instance, which may grow to over 2 m, lack a mouth and gut but house billions of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in their trophosome. Tubeworms transfer haemoglobin from their red plumes to the bacteria living inside their tissues, through the use of hydrogen sulfide, and in return, the sulfur-oxidizing bacteria facilitate the tubeworms in the absorption of carbon nutrients. From your oldest ancestors, Chemosynthetic Bacteria: Chemosynthetic bacteria - Sulfur-reducing and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria - live symbiotically, complementing and sustaining each other's respiration, and energy conservation in anaerobic conditions, and they form microbial mats with various colours, contributing to the vibrant hues seen on seamounts. Let me start by reminding you of who we are. Around 4 billion years ago, in the darkens of the deep sea, we were once born, just after the oceans were formed. We are chemosynthetic bacteria, believed to be one of the first forms of life on this planet, and we have specialised sensors which allow us to perceive our environment under the sea. If you can breathe and smell now is because your sense of smell evolved from our primordial sensors, enabling you to perceive molecules in the air, just like we can perceive molecules inside the water. It was in the deep sea, that rocks and fumes self-organised to became alive and form what we are now today, tiny bacteria living inside hydrothermal vents, the unsettling undersea ridge, where extreme temperatures coming from the centre of the earth meet the freezing deep sea. You can find us inside the rocks, in complete darkness, withstanding the pressure of entire oceans while living surrounded by sulfur compounds and other substances extremely toxic for most organisms. With our chemosensors, we were able to detect sulfur compounds from the sea, which we used to generate energy. This complex mechanism allowed us to create symbiotic relationships and support the biodiversity of the hydrothermal vents. With time, our chemoreceptors took different paths and evolved to form more complex systems, such as your olfactory receptor, which helped you in the flitting moments even before you were one being. In the form of sperm, you used your olfactory receptors to help you navigate and find your egg cell, which was sending signals in the form of hormones. These olfactory receptors would later evolve into your olfactory system, during the first weeks of pregnancy. This means that inside the womb, you could smell the nutrients from your mother’s diet so that after you were born you would be familiar with them and recognize both your mother and maternal milk just by using your sense of smell. The ability to detect molecules and smell them has played a relevant role throughout the history of life. From ancient chemosensors to novel olfactory systems, the ability to perceive chemical signals has been fundamental. This journey highlights the importance of chemosensing and smelling the world around us. We believe that your olfactory system is rooted in our distant past. When you breathe in, remember our complex and beautiful interconnectivity, that weaves our ancient origins to your present existence.

Caetano Mendes Dias is an interdisciplinary research-based designer, investigating the communication of the Osmocosm and ecological challenges in the discipline of design today. Go back to main page

As above, is bellow. A collection of photos about the relevance of SCROLL DOWN SCROLL Âncora 1 Stupid Memories 2022 A small dark box containing a collection of macro-photos revolving around the subject of stupidity as a mechanism of change and free thinking. In the beginning, there was a forest inside the mercurial ocean. The sun, spirit of knowledge, always kept an eye on their creation so that nothing would escape them. In stupidity, however, the wise are always the ones who feel shame and hope, because space is round, and time is clean. The whole was to the bigger part as the bigger part was to the smallest part and simultaneously, everything that was fast was slow as slowness has always gone hand in hand with haste. There were great fruits inside of our body, and all of them sang in harmony. All the grand fruits, they whirled and whirled. To please the sun, in circles, they whirled. But alas, when the deep golden sleep arrived, the knowledge of the sun was bloodshed by the fruits and therefore, the pieces of fruit started to wane. In their wane, they whirled so fast that the soul of their body was flung away. The light left and so was born the darkest places of our body. But before evil kneaded into the space, the body was already running in the absence of time and knowledge has not stopped growing since. As above, is below.

How do we live in balance with other species and how do we take care of them? Living Donut 2020 A ceramic piece designed to grow chia seeds on its surface using the water absorption properties of ceramics. Living Donut questions how we live in balance with other species and how we take care of them. The living donut is an expression of my biophilia for plants and fertility, it is an invitation to reconnect with nature. The word fertility comes from the Latin, ferre (to bear, to transport), and just like the Living Donut, we need to have the strength to bear and transport life.

Edible wine glass made with Isolamt sugar. Re-engineering of the INAO wine glass. Sweet Wine Glass 2022 This project rethinks the traditional way of the wine industry, by creating an edible glass out of sugar. The glasses can be used during a few meals and after that, they can be transformed into something else, such as a desert.

Would it be interesting to ask what is the impact of TikTok on humanity? @ericbutter 2022 Would it be interesting to ask what is the impact of TikTok on humanity? TikTok was designed to promote disinformation, the content runs so fast that the absorption of any kind of knowledge becomes impossible, and reflection stops existing, we swipe in modus operandi , but the memories never get out of the smartphone. From the spring of the river, generalized ideas of complex problems are born, and as the river flows, systematically, the dramatization increases, and the ideas get simpler and simpler until they flow into a sea of silly, massified, and distorted ideas. TikTok is an incubator for Narcissus and just like Narcissus, in the lake, we will drown in our reflection, the only difference is that Narcissus was a subject and not something banal and objectifiable. I'm not saying that the sense of community was lost among the swipes, I would even say that we never had lived in such a collectivist world dictated by the trends of social networks, but what we can't deny is that we live in the hegemony of collective narcissism and an individualistic culture addicted to quick and easy hedonism. We, who show off what we have and what we don't have, create a toxic world, but brighter and more beautiful, we care more about our image than about ourselves, but we forget that images are just images. And thus, a discrepant chasm is created between reality and the virtual world, almost oniric space, where, those who go there always return disappointed and sad.

A short movie that tries to picture Caetano's mindset. The images were collected at Praia do Sul, his childhood beach, where he used to spend his long summer days. Nothing is happiness 2021 A contemplative two-minute video manifesto that explores the philosophy of detachment as a pathway to happiness. Rooted in the principles of ataraxia and inspired by the fleeting nature of existence, the video reflects on the human tendency to desire, possess, and cling. It invites the audience to embrace simplicity, impermanence, and the joy of "being" rather than "having." Created using a combination of found footage from the internet and scenes from movies that resonate with the theme, the video weaves a thoughtful narrative that challenges materialism and celebrates inner peace and gratitude for life's transient moments. Manifesto I believe the main thing in our life is to achieve happiness. I think that detachment can be a way. We must learn to enjoy the little moments and be grateful for them. As Horacio said, Carpe diem. We have to live detached and accept everything has its beginning and end and is transitory. The desire and despair for goods is a mistake. We will enjoy what we have and not despair because we always want more. Is there anything more bizarre than wanting money? Nobody wants money for money. Money is a means to an end. We don't need anything if not what is necessary to live, having mental and physical health. I understand that we desire objects and that we want them, but this dependence is not healthy because our happiness becomes dependent on the goods we have or do not have. I look for ataraxia, the tranquillity of not wanting to own anything. We were once nomadic and detached but, why is it so difficult now to be so again? Let go of the addictions to have more freedom. I live without worries and desires and do not look for passions. Feelings are volatile and flexible. The people we love can disappear at any time. We are living, and people come and go. I don't live looking for anyone but myself. I don't want life to love me but want to love life. We have to love ourselves and spread love around the world. I don't understand what loneliness is. Are we not always with ourselves? I believe in apathy, don't let myself drown in chaotic passion, and don't stick to carnivorous relationships. I live with a lot of emotion and enjoy it, but I accept its end and death, life is momentary, and nothing can interfere with our happiness. Happiness is always inside of us. I am always open and our possibilities. I live without expectations to not create disappointments, I don't have a direction, and I like to wander. We have to embrace the unforeseen and live by chance. It is essential to have life goals, to be prepared for the future, and try to anticipate any discomfort we could have. But we must be prepared for misfortune because the only certainty is death. Whatever happens, we have to be resilient and live with ataraxia. We cannot change the past so, I think it will always be unnecessary to suffer for what cannot be changed. We don't want to suffer, but we want to learn from the past to be happier in the present. I believe that we have always had to look for the positive in each situation. I am grateful for my privileges. I like to do nothing, to stay with me on my body, in a warm place, without noise, visual and olfactory pollution. At this moment, I am happy, and do not think about anything, I taste the happiness of doing nothing, letting go of my body, my mind, and myself. I zoom out, and I can get a clear impression of myself. I let my tastes, my knowledge, and my values go. I resign to observing nature, the universe, and nothing. I am not a person, am not dependent on myself, I'm just a happy nothing.

Exploring the relevance of scents in human life and the nuances of olfactory perception. Scented Life Scents 2024 In the context of human life and the importance that smells have to our evolution, I have designed four fragrances that gathered four pivotal olfactory moments from our past, each holding profound significance for our vital state and celebrating our body odour. Human Ancestors (Sulfuric ocean) The first fragrance is sulfuric and oceanic. Sulphur, reminiscent of the scent of rotten eggs, is a primordial element of interstellar space and an outcome of our planet’s geology. Although harmful to humans when inhaled or ingested, is present today, in small amounts, in the food we eat and within our bodies. The smell of sulfur, notably in the sea, is attributed to Dimethyl sulphide (DMS), the most abundant molecule emitted by aquatic life and the heart of the sea’s smell - an aroma of truffles and fresh algae, intertwined with the essence of life and death. The undersea vents are abundant in sulfides and the first forms of life lived around them, in extreme environments on early Earth. These vents nurture resilient extremophiles, microbes adapted to endure intense conditions, who thrived because they learned to source energy from sulphur and developed a symbiosis with other microbes that mutually recharge each other’s energy sources. These biochemical systems that may have been part of life’s boiling beginning, persist even today, in microbes coexisting inside of us. Into the Ovum (Buttery semen) Another crucial moment of human life reveals a secret that takes us back to our beginning. The capability to “smell” extends beyond our noses, spermatozoas, an integral part of semen, have olfactory receptors that allow them to navigate toward the female ovum and create the embryo. The vagina has a microbial community, like lactic acid bacteria, that produce cheesy, butyric, and vinegar volatiles, besides the characteristic metallic and fishy odours. The scent of semen is intriguingly tied to cadavers and death, when semen is inside the body, microbes can not proliferate and change its faint smell, however, when exposure to the air, the spermatozoa die and form putrescine, pyrroline, and cadaverine, which is found in animal death. Putrescine is a foundational element for larger molecules, spermidine and spermine, packed within spermatozoa to help the delivery of male genes to the ovum, and they are also critical for ensuring the proper functioning of DNA and RNA. When in contact with the air, these molecules, and putrescine, create pyrroline, which gives off the smell of semen and is an olfactory reminiscent of the innermost agents at work within our bodies. NOURISHING (Sulfuric cheese and caramelized fruit) Breast milk nourishes newborn mammals and its smells can range from caramel and coconut to butyric and sulfuric tones. The ability, that babies have to find the mother's milk might be linked to the presence of Dimethyl sulphide (DMS) inside the body, an animal-sulfuric volatile also found in saltwater creatures. DMS is found both in the amniotic fluid, released in the womb by microbes in the birth canal, and in the colostrum , when milk encounters bacteria on the mother’s skin or in the infant’s mouth. These benign bacteria, which help us suppress and defend against harmful microbes metabolise the sugar milk and form all kinds of smells: sulphuric from sulfides and thiols; vinegar-like odours from acetic acids; buttery and cheesy odour from diacetyl and butyric acid; and delightfully fruitiness, sweet-coconut odours and caramel qualities from lactones and furanones. The common association of vanilla with breast milk stems not from vanilla itself but from maltol, a compound reminiscent of caramel, praline, and vanilla. Another factor that contributes to the association of vanilla with milk is the fact that any ingredient with vanilla ingested by the mother quickly passes into her milk, which further enriches the sensory experience for the baby. Maternal Love (Oceanic butter) The last crucial moment has to do with the sweet fragrance of newborn babies that contributes to their overall cuteness power, a set of stimuli that quickly awakens the attention of others and creates an emotional bond with the baby. The top of their heads, in particular, emits a delightful scent reminiscent of creamy vanilla-like cheese coupled with an undertone akin to a watermelon ocean. While there is limited research on this subject, it is widely believed that the unique fragrance associated with newborns is attributed to the presence of vernix caseosa (a cheesy varnish), this white waxy coating protects the baby’s skin in utero, retaining moisture and acts as a lubricant during the journey through the birth canal, shielding the infant from vaginal bacteria, and aiding in temperature regulation. Following birth, vernix caseosa continues to play a role in helping the baby’s skin adapt to the external environment, although it is typically washed off after approximately 24 hours, traces of the scent may linger on the baby’s hair and skin for a more extended period, contributing to the delightfull odour of newborn babies.

Caetano Mendes Dias is an interdisciplinary research-based designer, investigating the communication of the Osmocosm and ecological challenges in the discipline of design today.

"No matter where I came from, I say, no matter where I go, to me what matters is where I am on this day" Sea Day 2022 "A short film statement about how I wish to see myself in the future within the design field. A critical point of view towards my frenetic life, filled with information and so little knowledge. A wish for a future with more conversations/discussions and less writing, a future with less art, and fewer books, as in, fewer artefacts, as in, fewer human footprints (especially the footprints that covered the minorities and marginalised). I speak about a future without a human history to a certain extent. A future without physical memories. I admire the future where true knowledge is passed away through our genes, from generation to generation. The moment when the only human (arte)fact, is the humans themselves, no technology besides the human body. Our bodies are already a beautiful and complex limited archive of our ancestor's knowledge . It is in our hasty need, such as this one, to print our thoughts and actions in the world that we fail in saving ourselves from extinction." Brief reflection.

Why do we need more? More stories? Why? I would rather don’t tell the stories about why I don’t want more stories but that’s another story. The Empty Story 2022 This performance and manifesto questions the constant need to create more and tell more. Poem I should ask myself why am I writing this? Is this just one more story to fill in the agenda? Why do we need more? More stories? Why? Embrace the law of noncontradiction I contradict my ideas to tell you more about them There are to many stores being told at the same time all the time And so many empty hearts waiting to be filled with hope I hope there is still meaning behind image I wonder it is there a real story lo De colar Why do we immediately try to kill? - Fling freely in our" houses. Why don't we allow ourselves to be bitten by them? We are afraid of them We don't understand them We don't see them We don't have empathy for them. We were so afraid of dying that we killed all the rest And our desire to achieve eternity lidded us to a "broken" (Eco)system. But isn't dying giving space to new life possibilities? Whenever something dies another born What is death for someone is life for others. I want to show the invisible world Allow new stories to be told Give more space to the others To our family To us We embrace the moth in "our" houses The carpet beetle larvae The silverfish The woodlice Give space to the insects To the larvae I give a woolen web where they can tell their story A non-human story The power of not doing Not saying Not telling Not moving Not breathing Not living. "Speech is silver, silence is golden" Why do we need more? More stories? Why? I would rather don’t tell the stories about why I don’t want more stories but that’s another story. We live in a reality, or shall I say hipper reality, where there are so many stories being told at the same time all the time that our minds become torpid and empty by them. The information runs like a waterfall, and we are passively sitting by the river looking at the overwhelming waterfall. There is no real story, only some futile images to fill the empty space. The system is messed up, the content doesn’t really matter, the dynamics behind the cultural institutions will keep the same no matters what we are trying to tell because the public only wants to see some nice images and have fun, our stories will not change the way things work but will just be another project amount the others to filling in the agenda. Furthermore, our impact in the world had become so big that we are even moving to a new geological epoch because of that. We were so afraid of died or suffering because of it, that we “kill” all the other species instead. Our will to live longer, the need to be healthier and the desire to achieve eternity lidded us to a “broken” (eco)system. When we see a mosquito fling freely in “our” houses, we immediately try to kill them, we don’t want to be bitten by them, we are afraid of them, we don’t understand them, we don’t see them, we don’t have empathy for them. Why don’t we allow ourselves to be bitten by mosquitos? Even if is painful or even, in some cases, we would die, what would be the problem? Shouldn’t we die at some point anyway? If you want, we could say whenever someone dies another born, this means when we die, we give space to new life possibilities. The power of not doing, not saying, not telling, not moving, not breathing, not living. The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT) born in the second half of the 20th century believes that by extinguish our specie (suicide) we could fight clime change (give space to new species/things). It can seem a joke or unsettling but is very beautiful, death is as beautiful as life because what is death for someone is life for others. To conclude my story, I “won’t” tell stories in order to allow new stories to be told, non- human stories, stories about fungi eating our bodies and transforming us back into soil.