Subtle Technologies: Symposium

Presenters for 2004:

Stephanie Andrews

Christopher Bailey

Joanna Berzowska

Shushil Bhakar
and Eric Hortop

Cliff Burgess

Paulo Chagas

Dennis Dollens

Dan Falk

Sarah Filley

Ivette Fuentes-Guridi

Lila Kari

Narendra Pachkhede

Chris Salter

Chelsea Smock

Clara Ursitti

Derek van der Kooy

Yon Visell

Fabian Winkler

Panel Discussion

Symposium, 2004

Love is in the Air - The Chemistry of Attraction

By Clara Ursitti
Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow University and Cunbria Institute for the Arts, Carlisle

Helen Keller once said that smell is the fallen angel of the senses. It is neglected in both art and science, yet recent research by Martha McKlintoch and Claus Wedekind points to the significant role the olfactory may have in mate selection. Pheromone research in humans is a fascinating and controversial area, which sits on the borders of science and pseudo-science. Do we communicate chemically, in the same manner as animals? And if so, can that bottle that you buy on the internet make you irresistibly attractive to the opposite sex? Is love literally a matter of chemistry?

Pheromone Link, is a science experiment / dating agency which links volunteers up through smell. Rather than choosing a partner by what they look like, you literally choose your partner blind through smelling their recently worn clothing. Clara Ursitti, from the Pheromone Link scientific team, will present recent research in the area, She works alongside Dr. George Dodd, who has spent a lifetime studying the role of smell in human communication and sexuality.

Biography:

Clara Ursitti is an artist and lecturer, based in Glasgow, Scotland. She lectures at Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow University; Cumbria Institute for the Arts, Carlisle and on the Masters programme at Konsthögskolan Valand, Gothenburg University. She has been working as part of the Pheromone Link scientific team for over six years and has exhibited widely internationally, including the Institute for Contemporary A,rt ( ICA) London, England, the Centre for Contemporart Art ( CCA ), Glasgow; the Australain Centre for Contemporary Art ( ACCA ), Melbourne Australia, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland, and the Konstahallen, Gothenburg, Sweden.