Artist Sean Raspet leads a discussion and in-person evaluation of selected, newly-created scent molecules as part of the New Public Forum, a student-led series of lectures and demonstrations aimed at instituting public dialogue between various fields as they evolve and adapt to a changing world.

Sean Raspet is an artist who has been working with scent and molecular structure for over 10 years. He was the first artist to design new olfactory molecules as an art form, starting with Siladroxyllal-014, a sila-substituted analog of hydroxycitronellal he designed in 2013. Since then, he has created numerous new scent molecules as artworks and commercial products. He is the founder of Patina (patina.earth), a startup working on designing new scent molecules and on mapping the human olfactory system, to expand the realm of possible scents. His practice merges art with the realms of commercial products and new technologies. In addition to his olfactory works, other works have consisted of liquid chemical formulations, food, nutrition, human metabolism, and human cellular development via stem cells. More recently, his work has involved plant genetics and the breeding of new varieties through randomly induced mutation. His work has been exhibited at the Okayama Art Summit (directed by Pierre Huyghe), Tai Kwun Contemporary Art Centre in Hong Kong, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, de Young Museum, San Francisco, M Woods Museum, Bejing, the 9th Berlin Biennale, Bridget Donahue, New York, Société, Berlin, Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, Empty Gallery, Hong Kong, Sculpture Center, New York, and The Kitchen, New York, among others.

Learn more about the New Public Forum, which is supported by The Cooper Union Grant Program and The Cooper Union School of Art, here. Lectures will be broadcast by the Cooper Radio Collective.