The Tasting Tongue - Art Installation By Studio Deng: Sensory Exploration in Montpellier

The Tasting Tongue, designed by Studio Deng, is an immersive art installation that transforms ordinary objects into playful, imaginative extensions of taste. Completed in 2025 for the Festival des Architectures Vives in Montpellier, France, the installation occupies a compact courtyard of the historic Hôtel de Rozel, inviting visitors to explore synesthetic interactions between the body, space, and imagination.

Concept and Inspiration

Studio Deng’s concept poses the provocative question: “What if every object has an invisible tongue?” Each element—the columns, windows, and flowerbeds—symbolically tastes its surroundings, transforming the sensory experience of space. The installation explores subtle, ephemeral sensations: the wetness of rain-soaked grass, the umami of a mild breeze, or the velvet-like texture of melting cheese. By linking taste to environment, the project creates a collective sensory fiction, engaging visitors in a novel, interactive way.

Design and Interaction

The installation features a metallic tongue that flows from a windowsill and unfolds toward the courtyard center. From this tongue grow 130 taste buds in four categories—sweet, sour, bitter, and salty—each inspired by microscopic imagery of real taste buds. Visitors are invited to insert their own taste buds into the structure, amplifying the act of tasting and contributing to a shared archive of flavor memories.

Children reshaped the buds, neighbors observed changes over time, and strangers compared contributions, creating an impromptu communal stage for playful experimentation. The work transforms the courtyard into an interactive space where architecture, art, and sensory perception converge.

Adaptive Journey

After the festival in Montpellier, the installation traveled to the chamber room of a 14th-century monastery during Architecture en Fête, exploring how the "invisible tongue" adapts to a historic context. Following the exhibitions, materials—including pink felt and metal sheets—were donated to Children’s Relay, supporting art education and extending the installation’s life beyond the gallery.

Materials and Spatial Experience

• Materials: Metal, pink felt
• Scale: 10 m²
• Photographs: Paul Kozlowski
• Site: Hôtel de Rozel, Montpellier, France

The Tasting Tongue exemplifies temporary installations, public art, and interactive architecture, merging playfulness, sensory exploration, and community engagement.

All the photographs are works of Paul Kozlowski