comments and reviews: SCI shares views, observations – there should be a SCI contribution
In today’s art world the sensorium is focused on the visual. A closer look however reveals that the sense of smell should no longer be neglected. Here is an ethnographic story from hanging out with art collectors at a recent edition of Art Basel that might be more telling and revealing than any systematic survey.
Continue reading Collector at Art Basel: “You have buried the smell of the oilstick…”
The web facility Google Trends shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages.  The horizontal axis of the main graph represents time (starting from 2004), and the vertical is how often selected terms are searched for relative to the total number of searches, globally.
Our comparison of a few olfactory terms reveals some peculiar pattern:Â The blue curve on the chart below represents the searches for “perfume”. It shows systematically its annual maximum in December. Smaller spikes can also be identified for May. Accordingly, a fragrant present or at least the search for a fragrant present turns out to be the gift of choice for Mother’s Day and even more so for Christmas.
There is no google data available for earlier periods. Yet, the popular narrative of the three Wise Men visiting Jesus after his birth and bearing the gifts of gold, fragrant frankinscense and myrh shows the fragrant beginnings of the Christian feast.
Merry Christmas!
The web facility Google Trends shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages.  The horizontal axis of the main graph represents time (starting from 2004), and the vertical is how often selected terms are searched for relative to the total number of searches, globally.
Our comparison of a few olfactory terms reveals some peculiar pattern:
It is holiday season. This is the time of the year to feature perfumery on the front page. One would expect a portrait of one of the big brands, a review of celebrities, some sort of general interest. Continue reading Niche & mainstream consumer culture
A few days ago, I happened to come across this visualization of Plato’s thought provoking Allegory of the Cave. What the captives see and hear are shadows cast be objects they do not see. But what about the fire? Continue reading Do the captives actually smell the fire?
Little Trees seem to be ubiquitous these days. Continue reading Creating applications for little trees
This iconic narrative from the Judeo-Christian tradition is full of olfactory references that are topical today: Continue reading Scent masquerade!
The Swiss retailer www.digitec.ch is currently running a thought provoking advertizing campaign. It is basically broadcasting what customers wrote about a product on the retailer’s website. This feedback needn’t be positive. It can be devastating. But it must be interesting. And in fact, the product scent – intended or accidental – occurs frequently as a matter customers care about.
In 2015, we started Scent Culture News to shape and build scent culture as field. Following our mission we have highlighted and connected fragmented themes, ideas, references, and projects that relate to the sense of smell in culture, business and society. More recently, we made a pause and reflected on recurring themes, issues and concepts. As a next step we want to shift our attention from merely disseminating news to a more provocative approach: The launch of our series of smellshots is a first consequence.The heading “Monitor” serves as an umbrella for posts that inform about new development, share observations and commentaries. Thus, the posts from the old Scent Culture New site have also recently been imported to this site.
