Topic:
Cultural bias in (olfactory) assessment.
Inspiration:
Once I was taking olfactory testing for research. The machine released an odor for each question and asked the user to choose the odor’s image. But some odors in this test were not common in China because it was imported from the US.
Possible angles:
For the assessment and machine inventors, they might take the cultural difference in mind after viewing the work.
For other people, they might notice the uniqueness of the odor and think more about the odor, culture, and life.
This is an excellent development and topic shift. It’s very exciting to think about cultural specificity and sensory processing/experience. Very unique.
Some years ago (I think it was 2015), my friends borrowed a room in my studio (closed room with a bathroom) to conduct taste-testing for MacDonalds. They were testing recipes specific to China/Shanghai because, as you say, odors (which is how we taste) are localized/developed through environments and traditions. One of the things that was important to the corporation was that the testers were not allowed to wear perfume, deodorant, lotions with scents. The power of the olfactory elements would interfere with the tasting. I found that fascinating at the time.
I wanted to check in regarding your development. You do not yet have a critical lens. At the moment your frameworks are neutral (a tracing or factual investigation) rather than a questioning of stakeholder agendas.