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ScentCulture.Tube offers an incisive look at a research project that reveals the secrets of creative practice in perfumery. What started as naive curiosity about organizing design processes led to an unprecedented study of the secretive world of perfumery. With funding from The Swiss National Science Foundation, a team of researchers led by Claus Noppeney followed master perfumer Christophe Laudamiel and other perfumers from 2010 onwards. Following an ethnographic approach, the team shadowed daily activities, routines and informal conversations. They witnessed how perfumers and other design professionals struggle with challenges, cope with constraints, work across disciplinary boundaries and make sense of their creations. ScentCulture.Tube provides access to ethnographic data generated at Christophe Laudamiel’s studios in Berlin and New York during this longitudinal study.

27 unique videos capture Christophe Laudamiel’s creative practice. The videos are part of a data set of 300 hours of film footage. Each video is framed by a story and invites you to comment and discuss. 200 snapshots and other images offer additional insights from the field. Key quotations expand learning opportunities by pointing to related research in this field. Visitors can approach the site as a kaleidoscope: Each click on one of the 42 tags reorders the elements, tells new stories and opens up new views on creatives practices (e.g. creating, deciding or experimenting).

The videos tell different stories from the perfumer’s studio: Step by step sheds light on different stages of the creative process. The video zooms into various situations of decision making and conveys an idea of its overall complexity. Wet Dog: Chasing the Villain portrays perfumers as detectives. The story starts with Christophe detecting a malodor in an advanced modification. What follows is a passionate search for its causes. It is important to bear in mind that the film footage was originally produced for research purposes and later selected because of this communicative value. The Naïve Child captures key elements of Christophe’s creative practice. In a narrative interview with the researcher Christophe reflects on how he approaches even well known ingredients.

Meet the team

Directed by:
Claus Noppeney

With:
Christophe Laudamiel
Christoph Hornetz
Sebastian Fischenich
Marlène Staiger
Denyse Beaulieu
Ugo Charron

Concept & Art Direction:
Studios Zurich Basel with
Studio Nicolas Schaltegger

Programming:
Jonas Huber

Scientific research:
Nada Endrissat
Agnieszka Dabrowska
Manuela Hummel

Post production:
Kathrin Schmid

Technical support:
Benjamin Adriaensen
Murielle Drack
Anna Griesbach
Dominic Michel
Fiona Minder

Produced at:
Bern University of
Applied Sciences

Financially supported by:
Swiss National
Science Foundation

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