THE
EMOTION ORGAN
CRITERIA, SCHEME AND MAPPINGS
February 2006
During the Sensuous Knowledge Conference in 2005 Ken Friedman talked about the problems of artistic development described as research. Research is something that takes place in the mind. It is an activity that answers questions. A methodical search for knowledge. Original research tackles problems or checks previous findings. It is not the same as artistic development.
While I understand his point, for me it is hard to seperate the two, and possibly I don't have to. I'm still working in this issue!, and this is the reson for the 2 icons (research/practice) appearing at the top of this page.
I am the first to admit that The Emotion Organ is an impossible instrument to build. As such it enters the world of the meta, or the rehtoric. But that does not mean that I am not truley tring to build it.
I will shortly start to install the new sensors, etc, in the organ and program the various connections between media (inputs and outputs). Before I embark on this work I have scanned through my research notes to find out what I find relevant to apply to the practical work/design of the Emotion Organ. I have selected two texts which are helping me make decisions about how to approach the practical work, one by Dr. Hugo Heyrman that describes forms of synaesthesia in art, and one by Richard Cytowic that describes the clinical diagnosis of the condition of synaesthesia.
From a place that exists somewhere between myself and these two texts (rather than based on them, see image below), I have started to map the physical inputs and outputs of the Emotion Organ.
img: (describes my current state!) Max Ernst, Little girl dreams
of taking the veil, 1930.
1. FORMS OF SYNAESTHESIA IN ART
- explained in the words of Dr.Hugo Heyrman (1)
1) For a synesthete, synesthesia is an integral part of his/her sense
perception (a natural-born synesthete).
2) For an artist, synesthetic art is the result of an artistic intention (a
human-made form of synesthesia).
Synesthetic art: a cross-sensory perception evocated
by the experience of an artwork
Synesthetic images: images that accumulate striking metaphorical
resonance
Literary synesthesia: a poetic expression or metaphorical
articulation of a sensorial correspondence
Synesthetic metaphor: a metaphor that exploits a similarity
between experiences in different sense modalities
Poetic synesthesia: a semantic metaphoric fusion, to create
a virtual image
Kinetic synesthesia: experiencing dance in multimedia scenographies
Synesthetic canvas: an electronic screen
Conceptual synesthesia: elicited from time, graph, grapheme,
written word, personality, or thought/memory
Synesthetic cinema: translating consciousness and perception
into sound and moving images
Tele-synesthesia: a synesthetic experience evoked by a telematic
use of new media; the 'travelling' senses
Some similar terms: *synthetic synesthesia, *pseudo synesthesia,
*artificial synesthesia, *virtual synesthesia
2. CRITERIA FOR THE QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EMOTION
ORGAN
- inspired by Richard Cytowic's clinical diagnosis of the condition (2)
The abundant confusion in synesthesia's history requires a clinical definition to distinguish it from superficially similar, but otherwise distinct, phenomena. Since the term "diagnosis" literally means "through knowledge," the criteria are wholly historical. (Some may find this a refreshing change from our reflexive and often unthinking use of technology.)
DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES: (adaption/edit of Cytowic's text)
INVOLUNTARY BUT ELICITED
Synesthesia is involuntary but elicited. It is a passive experience
that happens to someone. It is unsupressable, but elicited by a stimulus that
is usually identified without difficulty. It cannot be conjured up or dismissed
at will, although circumstances of attention and distraction may make the
experience seem more or less vivid.
SPATIAL
Synesthesia is projected. It is perceived externally in peri-personal
space, the limb-axis space immediately surrounding the body, never at a distance
as in the spatial teloreception of vision or audition.
Distinguishing the experience of perception as "near" (e.g.,
chemosensation, touch, proprioception, body schema, the orientation of one's
body within Euclidean space) or "distant" (e.g.,
seeing, hearing).
DURABLE/GENERIC
Synesthetic perceptions are durable and generic, never pictorial or
elaborated. "Durable" means that the cross-sensory associations
do not change over time. "Generic" means that while you or I might
imagine a pastoral landscape while listening to Beethoven, what synesthetes
experience is unelaborated: they see blobs, lines, spirals, and lattice
shapes; feel smooth or rough textures; taste agreeable or disagreeable tastes
such as salty, sweet, or metallic.
MEMORABLE (EXPERIENCE)
Synaesthesia is memorable - experience rather than
thought is primary (First I have the color, and then I think of my
dog.")
EMOTIONAL
Synesthesia is emotional. The experience is accompanied by
a sense of certitude (the "this is it" feeling) and a conviction
that what synesthetes perceive is real and valid. They are states of insight
into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations,
revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though
they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority
for after-time.
3. MAPPINGS
SCHEME: DEPARTURE POINT
Diagram, based on Gino Casagrande (2004) and modified by Dr. Hugo Heyrman
(2005) (1)
PRIMARY MAPPINGS OF THE EMOTION ORGAN
DIAGRAM OF THE PHYISCAL INPUTS
Departing from the organ's original design
DIAGRAM OF PHYISCAL OUTPUTS
LINKS AND REFERENCES:
(1) Taken from "Art and Synesthesia:in search of the synesthetic
experience", by Dr. Hugo Heyrman
URL: http://www.doctorhugo.org/synaesthesia/art/index.html
(2) Taken from Synesthesia: Phenomenology And Neuropsychology - A Review
of Current Knowledge by Richard E. Cytowic, from PSYCHE: an interdisciplinary
journal of research on consciousness, 2(10), July 1995
URL: http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-10-cytowic.html