Spice of life: Artist bottles up US census data

New York – US-based artist Hanna Kang-Brown has used the latest American Community Survey data from the US Census Bureau to create a range of spice mixes.

Each mix in the Census Spices range represents the ethnic diversity of each of the five boroughs of New York and the city as a whole. Ingredients were selected based on a study of spices commonly used in different ethnic cuisines.
‘By pairing food with neighbourhood data, the spice mixes provide a shared sensory experience in which to talk about the places we come from and live in, the ways in which we identify ourselves and others, and the ways in which that is determined for us by the US Census Bureau,’ says Kang-Brown.

Mega-systems such as Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon are using data to tailor products and services to local tastes. Find out more by reading our Dawn of the Mega-systems macrotrend.