Continuing the conversation: art, science and synesthesia

What exactly does synesthesia mean in terms of art? Speaking recently with James Bulley, one of the founders of OOXXOO, I discussed the use of the term synesthesia: in art there are grey areas that often seem to muddle its meaning.

Is VJing (mixing projected images to sound) a form of synesthesia?

What about Visual Music: animation which emulates music or creates movement corresponding to music? There are networking sites dedicated to this art form. In the work of Max Hattler, for example, I find convincing representations of synesthetic experience, which may also lead to deeper understanding of synesthesia. Nonetheless is it appropriate to call anything that synchronizes sound and image synesthesia?

Should the term synesthesia be a specific elitist term in art as it is in neuroscience? Neuroscience gives us:
- SYNESTHETES: those who experience a constant unchanging synesthesia of a specific type, for example colour/grapheme, or colour/sound synesthesia
- NON-SYNESTHETES: those who do not have a constant unchanging synesthesia, although they may have an understanding or intuitive sense of the experience and may have even experienced synesthesia in some unique circumstance, or example during sexual climax or under the influence of mescaline.
Perhaps it will help to differentiate between synesthesia, the neurological condition, and synesthetic art, where the term can be more broadly used to describe various artistic experiments related to synesthesia.

Regarding Synesthetic Art and Synesthesia, recent studies have shown that synesthetes do not prove to be more creative than non-synesthetes, despite longstanding speculation that they are. Could it be that, if synesthetes are not more creative than non-synesthetes, synesthesia, or something like it, is in itself an underlying factor of human creativity, giving us the unique ability to make immense leaps of logic and reach unexpected conclusions. Perhaps it is a mechanism that functions unconsciously – like putting one foot in front of the other so as to walk. Perhaps it is this that makes the most abstract experience of sound and moving irregular shapes seem so significant. Perhaps this is what attracts us to the weird science of synesthesia.

Yet for some reason the synesthesia stands out in the conscious experience of a minority and occasionally for others in a moment of heightened awareness. The studies of scientists and the rare cases of extreme synesthesia are truly fascinating and merit particular study. Take the example of James Wannertan for example. His experience of synesthesia is not an afternoon of MTV. James Wannertan experiences a different taste for every word, sound, name. The tastes are constant, unchanging and relentlessly bombarding him. Can you imagine hearing a friend’s name and literally tasting earwax? Or your own name tasting of dull chewing gum?

This is James’s everyday life. And this is the kind of experience neuroscientists are trying to figure out. It is not an easy subject to study: the grey areas muddle our understanding of what synesthesia really means. Between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 25 people may be termed synesthetes. Two prominent scientists Naom Sagiv and Jamie Ward developed surveys launched over the internet through the BBC, DO YOU SEE WHAT I HEAR? and DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?, to try and study as much of the population as possible. Despite the limitations of such a survey to be able to understand a participant’s particular subjective experience, they were able to involve over 15,000 people in the experiment.

I was one of them. In all honesty, I found the experiment to be a bit frustrating – as if it had been designed for a robot or a computer, rather than a human being. At the same time, I admired the efforts of Ward and Sagiv to involve such a large percentage of the population in their experiment. Sagiv has also delved into synesthesia in art in an article on algorithmic synesthesia for The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music. I spoke to Sagiv at a conference. We talked about the BBC experiment and how to develop further artistic experiments towards a broader view of the subjective experience of synesthesia.

Many of the ideas scientists are discussing regarding synesthesia have been being addressed by artists for centuries, not using empirical scientific questioning, but rather intuitive conviction and creative experimentation. Allow me to ask, why is it that, if we have intuitively and artistically been engaging in a discussion on synesthesia for hundreds of years is it now that we allow science to define it for us? What is it about scientific conclusions that makes them superior to artistic expression and poetic reflection?

Science has inspired artists since its beginning. Can’t art inspire science? This is perhaps an area where science can take some lessons from art, where the two fields could come together, investigate more fully and thus hopefully reach more rounded conclusions.

Links:
OOXXOO
http://ooxxoo.co.uk/

Networking for visual music
http://visualmusic.ning.com/

Documentary on James Wannertan
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4297264301326388608&ei=Y89ZSu7uJ8aA-AaBh7yQBw&q=james+wannerton&hl=en

BBC Synesthesia Surveys by Naom Sagiv and Jamie Ward.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/index_surveys.shtml

The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Music/MusicHistoryWestern/TwentiethCentury/?view=usa&ci=9780195331615

Dr. Hugo's Synesthesia Links

Dr. Hugo Heyrman, Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Laguna in Tenerife, is a multi-faceted artist and networker, who has pulled together a plethora of information and links on synesthesia in various embodiments. He has also developed a range of work in diverse media, from artistic to academic around synesthesia and linking synesthesia to a variety of other phenomena. In 1995 he founded the Belgian Synesthesia association and has been a professor of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp since 2006.

See his Synesthesia index of important links at:

http://www.doctorhugo.org/synaesthesia/index.htm

Synesthesia & Design

Being a cross sensory experience bearing strong emotional impact synestheisa has immense persuasive value. In addition itcan often be very subtle, even subconscious, this could be why some experiences feel eerily profound affecting us more deeply that we suspect. Therefore, when creating an environment or product synesthetic considerations can be greatly beneficial.

The Artist, musician and Synesthete Michael Haverkamp has made the study and practice of synesthesia in design, as well as in art and music, a crucial part of his work. Much of his work has not yet been translated into English, though two articles Visual Aspects of Auditory Perception and Synesthetic Design and Sound Quality which have can be downloaded from his website:

http://www.michaelhaverkamp.mynetcologne.de/synaesthesie%20engl.htm

His site also holds other treasures to be discovered see and enjoy

Synesthesia projects in the Netherlands

A short message to inform you about synesthesia activities in The Netherlands. The main source for projects about synesthesia in the arts and sciences is Synesthetics Netherlands. It contains a Dutch and an English portal to projects since the last eight years. See for instance the Netherlands Color Synesthesia Project by artist Clara Froger and scientist Cretien van Campen (English page at http://www.synesthesie.nl/necosyn_eng.htm). The archives of the newsletters SYN-NL contain even more art & science projects (if you read some Dutch or you may just check the included links): http://www.synesthesie.nl/newsletter.htm

Synesthesia Building Bridges between Art and Science

Synesthesia is a subject that fascinates, revealing surprising truths about the human condition. Though these truths often seem illogical, to many, they appear to be obvious; some feel they are part of human nature, a fundamental aspect of our being. One of the wonderful aspects of this subject is how it brings people together in discussion, art and research. This exchange and collaboration seem a necessary part of our social engagement with synesthesia; as synesthesia has to do with the mixing of the senses, it seems only sensible that it should carry with it a demand for cross-curricular and interdisciplinary activities.

Recently, having attended the Third International Conference on Synesthesia, Science and Art, in Granada, Spain, I was impressed with the various perspectives developing in this multidisciplinary subject, as well as the number of fascinating and enthusiastic people involved. Furthermore, the level at which I observed scientists and artists engaging and collaborating left me amazed. On the final morning of the conference I briskly walked towards El Parque de las Ciencias with Ed Hubbard, a prominent contemporary scientific researcher of synesthesia. Ed, an exacting neurologist, and I, an experimental artist, discussed some of the difficulties involved in the communication between artists and scientists. Science is often thought of as arrogant in the eyes of artists; though, the scientific conviction that is often misconstrued as arrogance is one of science's greatest strengths: science is driven by the uniquely human desire to seek out and understand truth -scientists recognise that self conviction is fundamental for establishing truths and know that this conviction must come from evidence. In science, blind faith is actively avoided; for this reason, they must create new terms to explain aspects of human experience from an agreed point of view so as to simulate an objective view for the experimentation and analysis that is needed to reach conclusions. Unfortunately these are often difficult for the general public to engage with. While this is true, artists create their own terminology, which they often prefer to be open, left to subjective interpretation, something which invites public engagement.

After our brief discussion I came away with the idea that, engrained in both science and art, due to the aims of each, there are particular and distinct ways of observing the world and therefore reflecting it, creating something like a cultural divide. Interestingly, we were also discussing this with the conference interpreter. As a result, the idea of interpreting and translating became a central point in our discussion. We acknowledged that artists and scientists are both engaged in endeavours to develop, understand, enhance and expand human experience, and that, for the different points of view to communicate more clearly it is necessary to recognise and understand the fields' linguistic and cultural differences. Although this is a rather simplistic way of viewing the situation, as it is clear that within both science and art there are many diverse cultures and languages, the recognition of this idea may encourage open cross-disciplinary dialogue.

In conclusion, the subject of synesthesia inspires artists as well as scientists. Therefore, a strong desire to bridge uncommonly bridged gaps in developing human experience and understanding exists. This allows for an opportunity to examine and interpret all human experience as something interconnected. Art has a lot to offer science in its way of illustrating human experience and can often make very difficult subjects more accessible. At the same time, science, with its continuous endeavour to know the unknown and explain the unexplained, will never cease to fascinate and inspire the minds of artists.

Ed Hubbard's Home Page: http://edhubbard.googlepages.com/home
Art Work by Timothy B Layden: www.tblayden.com