USC Cinematic Arts

In conjunction with Media Arts + Practice, 5D Institute presents Lucy McRae who will deliver her talk titled “Living on the edge between the body, imagination and the future.”

Body Architect, Lucy McRae explores the relationship between the body, technology and the grey areas of synthetic and organic materials. On a search for beauty in the biological, she will talk about she went from fourteen years pirouetting at the ballet bar to inventing a Swallowable Parfum.

Bio

Lucy McRae is a body architect who invents invents playful, imaginary worlds underpinned by the tools of science fiction and technology, to create portals of possibility that provoke the way people embody the future. Trained in classical ballet and interior design, Lucy staked her claim as the world’s premier Body Architect during her formative years at Philips Design. Working in the far future design research lab she developed stretchable electronics, an electronic tattoo and a range of emotional sensing dresses awarded Time’s Best Fashion Invention in 2007. On a search for beauty in the biological, Lucy invented Swallowable Parfum, a scented capsule releasing a genetically unique fragrance through the skins surface, and a color changing liquid textile for Swedish pop star Robyn. Set on challenging the limits of the body, Lucy was invited to join the TED Fellowship program in 2012 and spoke at TED Long Beach on How Technology will Transform the Body. Her talk has been viewed 1,200,000 times and counting.

Perhaps partly because of the intriguing ambiguity of her job description or the unconventional duality of her artistic study of technology Lucy is listed by Fast Company as one of fifty people shaping the future.

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