– Pheromone as a Message –
space installation (2024)
DATE: November 7th, 2024
CONTEXT: Exhibition “Koō-suru” at Aizumi Art Museum
CURATOR: Asuka Taniguchi and the students of the Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
PRODUCER: Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
[Concept]
This installation features nine seemingly identical bottles. Six of them contain different synthesized pheromones and three of them contain only a dissolvent. The strings that suspend the bottles descend in the bottles, absorb the scents and disperse them into the air. Moving autonomously like a mobile, the bottles simulate the flow of people in an urban setting. This work examines olfactory perception in a context where the movements of scents and individuals constantly shift in relation to one another.
The concept critically reflects on society’s fascination with pheromones. In nature, pheromones are vital messengers for survival. For example, truffles contain androstenol, a pheromone found in male pig saliva. When a female pig detects it, she assumes a mating posture, which humans use as a clue to locate truffles underground. Androstenol is also present in human sweat and urine, but it does not evoke the same behavioral response in humans. The vomeronasal organ, responsible for perceiving pheromones, has atrophied in humans, rendering these substances ineffective in the way they function for animals.
Even so, the belief in pheromones persists. In this installation, observe your reaction as a bottle passes by. Do you sense anything? Where is the line between pheromone and scent? The work explores boundaries: what can be smelled and what cannot, what is felt and what is not, what attracts or repels.
[About the Series]
Olfactory Labyrinth is a series that explores themes of olfaction and movement. This version builds upon ver. 4, while ver. 7 shares a similar structure but focuses on the facets of scents carried by mountain air.
[Medium]
Bamboo skewers, glass bottles, strings, silk threads, synthetic fragrance materials (aromatic substances presumed to be pheromones), and solvents.
[Exhibited Pheromones]
All pheromones displayed are perfume materials sourced from PerfumersWorld. They are not animal-derived but are artificially synthesized, and provided at lower concentrations than recommended to ensure safety.
A: α-Androstenol (Sample Bottle 1)
B: β-Androstenol
C: Estratetraenol (Sample Bottle 2)
D: Copulins
E: Androstenone (Sample Bottle 3)
F: Androsterone
Smell them individually (focused), or all together (zoomed out) on the test strips. It was revealed during the exhibition that younger individuals were more likely to detect the scents, while many people over the age of 30 reported being unable to smell them easily. Therefore, the experience of “not being able to smell” is also an integral part of this work.
