Your blue can be my green
A few years ago, I was told that my images had triggered synesthesia in someone. This piqued my curiosity, as I had never heard of the condition before. I found out that between 2 and 6 percent of the population has it, but many don’t know that their way of experiencing the world is different. Synesthesia is overrepresented among artists, with well-known examples such as Vincent van Gogh and David Hockney. This is my attempt at further understanding this condition.
In working on this project, I have collaborated with synesthetes and interviewed researchers to gain insight into their experiences and to convey them through images. My goal is to create pictures that activate multiple senses simultaneously – an accelerated visual celebration of sensory impressions. We can ask “Do you see what I see?” But how can we ever know the answer? Your “blue” may be my “green.”
Whether synesthesia is a neurodivergence or an ability we are all born with might not be the most important thing. We spend a lot of time discussing what is “real,” as if agreement brings us closer to the truth. But maybe the truth lies in the differences.
Your blue can be my green
A few years ago, I was told that my images had triggered synesthesia in someone. This piqued my curiosity, as I had never heard of the condition before. I found out that between 2 and 6 percent of the population has it, but many don’t know that their way of experiencing the world is different. Synesthesia is overrepresented among artists, with well-known examples such as Vincent van Gogh and David Hockney. This is my attempt at further understanding this condition.
In working on this project, I have collaborated with synesthetes and interviewed researchers to gain insight into their experiences and to convey them through images. My goal is to create pictures that activate multiple senses simultaneously – an accelerated visual celebration of sensory impressions. We can ask “Do you see what I see?” But how can we ever know the answer? Your “blue” may be my “green.”
Whether synesthesia is a neurodivergence or an ability we are all born with might not be the most important thing. We spend a lot of time discussing what is “real,” as if agreement brings us closer to the truth. But maybe the truth lies in the differences.