Local Libido

2023
Olfactory composition produced in collaboration with Göteborg-based perfumers Doftarkivet; HVAC scent diffusion system  

Iris Touliatou’s work is an attempt for an intersection between the private and the public, bringing the intimate into circulation. Local Libido swings between registers of the political, economic; and sociological on the one hand; and the psychological and emotional on the other.  

The olfactive composition that permeates Göteborgs Konsthall and Röda Sten Konsthall is a microscopic diffusion of molecular components that occur as a degeneration of human skin, our largest organ, through touch, labour, movement, friction, sex and financial transactions, and form body odour. Göteborg-based perfumer, Doftarkivet, is collaborating to translate local economic and social indicators into an atmosphere of gradients, experiences, conditions, dreams of publics and counter-publics, downtime, interruption and flow.   

Complementary titles for this work are; Visitors or, what are the odds of finding love, what are the odds of having an orgasm, what are the odds of surviving without stealing, what are the odds of financial security, what are the odds of embodying the problem, what are the odds of having these odds detectable.  

Commissioned by: Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art 

Supported by: Iaspis/Konstnärsnämnden   

Iris Touliatou works across various disciplines dependent on the necessities of each intervention. Manifesting in sculpture, drawing, sound, scent and language, her work creates transient forms and shared experiences, commenting on labour, affective economies, and states of being.   

Touliatou has recently exhibited at: Kunsthalle Basel; Rodeo London/ Piraeus; Grazer Kunstverein; Amant; New Museum Triennial 2021; the 7th Athens Biennial; Work and Leisure; DESTE Foundation; and The Benaki Museum 

Röda Sten Konsthall & Göteborgs Konsthall