MIND, THE GAP
(synaesthesia and contemporary live art practice)
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Misuse can mean the crossing of wires, both literally or figuratively.
"Mind, the gap" is a practice-based research project dedicated to
the development of collaborative, interdisciplinary, performative live artworks
that are influenced by the notion of synaesthesia - the cross wiring of sensory
perceptions.
2.0 BACKGROUND
Synaesthesia (Greek, syn = together + aisthesis = perception) roughly translates
as "the bringing together of the senses" and refers to the phenomenon
that the stimulation of one sense modality gives rise to a simultaneous sensation
in another sense modality. In medical terms synaesthesia is often regarded
as a disorder, while people with the synaesthetic condition often regard it
as a gift.
Despite considerable scientific research there is little clarity as to what
causes synaesthesia. Some studies seek to prove that everybody is born with
synaesthetic abilities that diminish as a result of social conditioning, but
give little evidence of why others retain their abilities.
The notion of synaesthesia caused a buzz in both scientific and artistic spheres
in the early 20th century. Experiencing a revival in the 1960's, synaesthesia
was connected to hallucinative experiences (often induced by drugs), the arts,
science, pop/rock culture, new inventions - in short, the pursuit of a radically
new way of perceiving the world. In the late 1980's Ecstasy intensified the
sensations of ravers and clubbers to the brink of pre-hallucinogenic synaesthesia
- a regurgitation of the 60's. Currently, psychologists approach synaesthesia
foremost as a neurological phenomenon, while generally artists are exploring
digital devices to elicit synaesthesia. In the case of the latter example
most work has been carried out in the audio-visual sphere, and less focus
has been given to more complex modes of performance where more sensory combinations
are involved. (While several international institutions, such as the SIGGRAPH
2004 Conference Exhibition in Los Angeles and the ICA in London, have featured
synaesthesia as an exhibition theme that reflects the current in interest
in the topic, there is little evidence of work that stems from a performance
perspective in these events.)
The development and accessibility of digital and communications technologies
have increased the potential for artists to work in a multi-sensory mode.
Current art practices utilizing digital technology build "instruments"
in a "modular" fashion where digitized inputs from the analogue
world can be broken down to component properties and those parameters can
control or affect other properties of media. As such, they mimic synaesthesia.
Networked environments allow collaborating artists to affect each other’s
mediated inputs and outputs creating a cacophony of cross-wired connections
that affect the total output.
The integration of digital and communications technologies in everyday life
creates possibilities to experience the interaction and direct manipulation
of combined sensory activity - a potential readily grasped upon by mass media
and market industries. Additionally, prosthetic industrial technologies such
as ultrasound (that renders surface images of depth via sound) simultaneously
draw upon more than one sensory mode to reveal that which is otherwise hidden,
and can be considered in synaesthetic terms.
The title of my project, "Mind, the gap", can be read as a warning
sign. If synaesthetic influences are everywhere, and are commonly experienced,
consciously or subliminally, by everyone, what is the point of conducting
a research based on a focus on something as general as synaesthesia? While
I must admit to be fascinated by the phenomenon of "genuine" synaesthesia,
I am not concerned with issues such as whether or not notorious 19/20th century
artists like Alexander Scriabin and Wassily Kandinsky possessed genuine synaesthetic
abilities. However, I am interested in the social and historical context in
which they formed their ideas and synaesthetic systems.
My background is in dance where cross-sensory integration was daily fodder
throughout my education. I have worked professionally as co-director of the
artist collective "Motherboard" for the past 9 years creating collaborative,
hybrid, live art events, performances and installations that utilize and "misuse"
digital and communications technologies in process and realisation. From a
retrospective perspective several of these productions relate strongly to
the synaesthetic notion.
3.0 MIND, THE GAP
The synaesthetic notion cuts across the imaginary frontiers of the
senses and offers the potential of escape from the segregation of art genres.
It embraces elicited synaesthesia via cross-wiring analogue, digital, poetic
and conceptual devices.
"Mind, the gap" focuses on a formal/structural artistic approach
to the subject to inform the development of a performative live artwork where
synaesthetic strategies are employed to evoke both unusual sensory connections
and experiences and new aesthetic potentials.
3.1 Questions
01) What methods can be found to identify and structure synaesthetic traits
in performance/artworks?
02) Can an artwork be described as "successful" in synaesthetic
terms in relation to:
a) Process, input and output - from an artist perspective?
b) Output - influencing the way an audience perceives a work?
03) What is the relationship between stimuli (input), feedback and perceptions
(output), and time/space structures?