SCIENTISTS FOR LOVE
scientific study / performance, 2013 (ongoing)

Based in Montreal, Scientists for Love is an organization devoted to the scientific study and advancement of love in all its forms. Founded by Leigh Kotsilidis and Amy Chartrand in November 2013, Scientists for Love is the first ever institute of its kind. Under the SFL umbrella, Leigh and Amy create events that use scientific methodology as a conductor of social energy and human connection.  

 
EXPERIMENTS 

Speed-dating for the Senses (and the sensitive) – A social experiment with the senses, attraction, and 30 singles.
2014-17   Montreal, QC & Toronto, ON (SummerWorks, 2015) 

Intermission with Canadian Stage – An evening of experiments exploring parallel universes and agency.
2016        Canadian Stage, Toronto, ON

Field Study: Data Pool, a public intervention –  Participants were asked how they connect with people (touch, smell, taste, hearing, sight) and were assigned a colour based on their response. These colours were then a way to strike up conversation with strangers.
2015        SummerWorks Opening, Toronto, ON 

Field Study: Saliva Swap, a public intervention –  In exchange for a swab of saliva, participants received someone else’s DNA and their phone number in exchange.
2015        SummerWorks Mixer, Toronto, ON 

Field Study: Complimentary Connections, a public intervention –  SFL rode the Montreal metro giving out 100 cards for people to write down and pass along a compliment to stranger.
2015        Montreal Metro, Montreal, QC 

Sweet Nothings: Readings for one – An experiment in form and experience: personalised literary readings from Blue Met poets by phone, alone in a hotel room.
2014        Blue Metropolis Literary Festival, Montreal, QC

Field Study: I hear you and I love you, a public intervention – Participants were asked to read a poem aloud to test whose voice resonated with whom. 
2014       Casa del Popolo, Montreal, QC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYslHrFS5Fs
 
 
OBSERVATIONS

August 7, 2015; The Toronto Star, Find your soulmate – by sniffing their dirty T-shirt, Katrina Clarke 
March 16, 2015; CBC’s Wire Tap, The Dating Game, Jonathan Goldstein
February 14, 2015; CBC’s Radio Noon, Interview with Mira Burt-Wintonick 
February 14, 2015; La Presse, Amour et Science: Speed Dating Scientifique, Philippe Mercure 
February 14, 2015; La Presse, Amour et Science: Les Dessous de L’Expérience, Interview with Philippe Mercure 
March 23, 2014; Maclean’s, Can we sniff out true love?, Lev Bratishenko 


​To read more about Scientists for Love projects, visit our website:
scientistsforlove.com

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