I suppose the idea for the visual approach to this work stems from the abstract nature of synaesthesia - it is the removal of the subject matter. This is one of the elements that motivated me to investigate the condition. I am not trying to create an image of synaesthesia in this piece, but attempting to express it in more abstract terms.
The inspirations for this piece came from a variety of sources, - a mantle piece decoration we have, a mapping article in a recent issue of eye magazine and also from a 2d graphic visualisation I uncovered in the research that visually interprets musical texture, its called SisTeMu by Laia Clos.
The piece is a map of the mind of sorts, - the senses each have an area in the white matter and are populated with colours allocated for each sense. I have assigned red to sight, blue to hearing, green to touch, yellow to smell and orange to taste. The main colour for the sense dominates each pin stack but the other sense colours have also mingled in and crossed over. This illustrates the nature of the condition where areas of the brain not usually stimulated by a trigger to one sense become ‘exhitory’ or excited. (Neurologically our default with this inhibitory) .
I have also included 2 ‘areas’ that are not senses themselves - memory and emotion - but which nonetheless are tied in with our perceptions of the sensory world - in the way a smell can immediaely trigger memory and also the way in which synaesthetes have another ‘hook’ to hang memory from - they often use the colours of numbers to remember the sequence - in a phone number for example. Both memory and emotion are expressed with a dominance of silver, reflective of that which surrounds them.
The final communication layer on this piece is the threading together of the pinstacks across the sensory zones to show the functional cross wiring of the synaesthetes brain. I’m really happy with the way this has turned out, even if I am in two minds as to whether I need to add in a little more threading.
HI Steph, I really loved this piece you made and I can see how labour intensive it must have been. The sheer amount of 'little' pieces used is enough to warrant praise. The end result is very impressive but I don't think you have made enough of it. I agree that the photographing of it probably needs more work. I had photographed my own pieces but wasn't happy with the lighting, I either killed the colour with over exposure or killed the detail when muting the light. Yesterday I got the professionals in (I'm lucky enough to have a photographic department in my college who were more than willing to oblige). The difference in their shots to mine is incredible. So I really recommend getting someone professional to do it. I think in your case you should go really dark in the background and allow the colour vibrany of the pieces to captivate us.
ReplyDeleteThe threading, linking up side of it is a terrific idea and it would be lovely to get the audience interaction but I can see that the piece probably wouldn't sustain heavy handed use. I dont know how possible this is but it came in to my head initially so I'll have to share it. How about putting the piece into a glass/perspex box, about table height so that the viewer can walk around it and look down on it. This would allow viewing from above but also from the sides. The audience could then interact using laser pens to show the cross wiring of the senses that you speak of, similar to what you did with the threading!?
Also, when you mentioned in your piece above about visualising the "abstract nature of synaesthesia", I thought how ‘bang on’ is that thought. Synaethesia is such an abstract concept, if concept is even the correct word to use? I have been following your research and studies closely in REV and I'm still only coming to terms with what it is. I suppose I have been waiting for you to show me the piece or say the line that will explain it all to me. I've just realised that this 'piece' or line probably doesn't exist, its too abstract to pin down and its too broad to try and contain. (You are probably saying at this point, Dahh Audrey, about time the penny dropped!) You see, I was trying to understand it in completely the wrong way, I was trying to box it and to understand it with my own senses, ie, I can hear, so to imagine what it is like not to hear I block my ears, I can see, so to imagine what it is like not to see I close my eyes. Maybe the way of visualizing synaethesia is to show that we cant understand it…its abstract and therefore not supposed to make sense
ABSTRACT(definition)
-difficult to understand; abstruse: abstract speculations.
(This could just as easily be the definition for synaethesia!)
If you are trying to represent it visually and artistically, which I think you are doing with your foam circles, perhaps you could consider going down the lines of more abstract representaion. Miro, comes to mind. Indeed if you could progress your piece into a mobile piece which is constantly moving/changing and not ‘pinned down’, it may strengthen the abstract nature of what you are trying to show.
ABSTRACT(definition in relation to art)
- pertaining to the formal aspect of art, emphasizing lines, colors, generalized or geometrical forms, etc., especially with reference to their relationship to one another.
(I thought this could just as easily be describing your foam piece!)