What is smoke exactly?  Taking place in the splendorous setting of The Art Workers Guild we invite a range of specialists to try to pin down smoke as it is manifest in fields as diverse as literary history of smog and cutting-edge space technology.
 
Professor Mark Burchell will talk about NASA's Aerogel, colloquially known as 'solid smoke', which, comprising of 99.9% air, is the lightest know substance.
 
Professor Steven Connor will discuss the history of smoke as insidious threat, from its magical and symbolic qualities to its psychological and physiological effects. 
 
Doctor Mervyn Heard will explore the history and ancient art of conjuring images on smoke - a technique widely practiced by fraudulent ghost raisers in the 18th century - and offers some useful tips for the modern practitioner