Anna Thomson

Master of Research in Creative Practices
Glasgow School of Art

Supervised by Dr. David Sweeney
August 2012

 

 

 

© Anna Thomson 2012

Submission Statement
Synaesthesia, or ‘union of the senses’, is the experience, of a minority of people, where two or more senses are automatically linked. I will focus specifically on a particular form of the phenomenon, known as Chromaesthesia, where input to one sense, e.g. the auditory one, as in listening to music, will automatically trigger the visual sense e.g. as in ‘seeing’ colours.
I will draw on material from the fields of both science and art. I will refer to theories and studies of psychological development and of brain functioning as they might help us understand synaesthesia’s origins and nature.
This will be a collaborative project. In working with someone with this rare ability I am hoping to acquire a greater understanding of what it means to be a synaesthete. I had not anticipated that through my own investigation into the world of synaesthesia I would meet a synaesthete just as interested in what I could not see as I was interested in what she could. It was through (general) discussion with my collaborator, Barbara Ryan that I formed an idea of synaesthesia as something that was present in us all at some stage, but subsequently lost to us at a later point in our development. This intrigued me and led to further reading and research. Those initial conversations with Barbara lead me to the question at the heart of this thesis; Can you see what I can’t see?
The collaborative project that followed aimed to re-establish the lost synaesthetic experience in those who no longer have it. This would be done by exposing them to a re-created synaesthetic audio/visual experience, such as those experienced by Barbara.
This re-created experience will take place in two venues for two purposes. The first, which will be available to examining bodies only, will take place at the Digital Design Studio (DDS) at Commercial Quay. This will involve a re-created 3D synaesthetic experience, allowing the viewer to become submerged in the piece, much like how a real synaesthetic experience might unfold. 
Due to the technologies involved for the 3D simulation having to be housed solely at DDS, the second (public) showcase will be situated at the Lighthouse using an HD projection. This will run the same visualisation in a 2D format. This public exhibition will allow for a wider audience to be reached.

 

Abstract

I propose that we are all capable of the cross modality experiences associated with synaesthesia. I argue that synaesthetic ability is present in us all at birth and that it is through development and a process of modularization or “sensory pruning”  that this ability is lost.
Synaesthesia is a highly individualized and personal trait. The associated ability varies from person to person. I suggest that synaesthetic ability becomes obsolete, as socially it becomes more important to verbally communicate with others than to communicate multisensory information to the self, which during infancy is part of the infant’s way of familiarising itself with its surroundings. This process of familiarisation is key during infancy, however once achieved the next step for our social development as humans involves language. I suggest that this transitional space where language is gained and social development is made possible, is where the synaesthetic experience will remain.
In order to investigate this idea of synaesthesia as something forgotten or lost, I have re-created a synaesthetic experience in collaboration with the artist Barbara Ryan, who herself has synaesthesia.

 

 

2. Introduction

The term synaesthesia comes from the Greek, syn meaning together and aesthesis meaning perception and is often described as being a union of the senses . Those with this unusual ability (about 4% of the population ) are able to experience the world in an entirely different way. For example allowing a person to taste sound or to feel colour.
Our senses are usually thought of as separate entities. However, the way we experience our surroundings is normally multisensory. Even the simple act of having a cup of tea is packed with multisensory information. The appearance and feel of the cup followed by the sensation of the tea itself; its temperature, consistency and smell, all combine to give you the multisensory experience associated with having a cuppa. Whilst we may initially consider that just one sensory mode is utilised in a specific experience, our senses are actually orchestrated in such a way that they actually work together in harmony to give a unified overall experience of a situation.

As children, there is a [general] urgency to explore everything and to experience our environment and immediate surroundings using all our sensory modalities, grabbing handfuls of mud and smearing it all over our selves, learning what it is through our own sensory interaction with it. This is how we absorb, familiarise and learn (often through play) before the acquisition of language.
These previously mentioned actions we practice during childhood do not continue to adulthood. This is due to the way in which we evolve which ensures we naturally forget or lose touch with these bad habits.
We disassociate through development, and forget these traits in order to progress to adulthood.
It is this process of forgetting, or indeed adapting, that we have become very adept at which I would like to look at further and subsequently forms the basis for this thesis, which looks at synaesthesia as a lost ability.

 

 

3. Research Area

With so many possible avenues to follow within synaesthesia, I decided to narrow my field of research down to the sub section; sound-vision chromaesthesia. Chromaesthetes have the ability to experience colour alongside non-visual stimulation. Allowing them to see sound either when music is played or even in the everyday hustle and bustle of life. This group also describes the association of specific colours or colour combinations when thinking about certain letters/numbers, or even through the basic act of reading. I would like to point out here that these ‘associations’ are not learned but go much further than that, the colours do not change from week to week. Every synaesthete who can experience colour linguistically has a unique built in colour vocabulary that is consistent over time and therefore not just the product of a conscious/unconscious learned response.

Within chromaesthesia there are a further two breakdowns; association-synaesthetes and projector-synaesthetes . Association synaesthetes view their visualisations as if on an internal screen in their head  whilst projector synaesthetes project their visualisations into a space externally- the location of this space is variable and can range from a six inch screen above their left shoulder to a changeable area that moves and changes with the pace of the music, at times, (specifically for synaesthete Barbara Ryan) travelling up and over, and sometimes directly through the individuals head . In order to produce comprehensive research, I have been concentrating on just one of these forms; the projector synaesthetes. This involved working collaboratively with Barbara Ryan, who has this rare ability to project her visualisations externally.

 

 

4. Collaboration

I have created in partnership with Barbara, a 3D visualisation, which demonstrates visually, an interpretation of her experience when she listens to a particular piece of music; Sarabande performed by Raine and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and as used in the film Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975). This audio-visual piece will contribute to the current research being carried out into synaesthesia. It will also help raise public knowledge and perception, as the projection will be displayed in a public exhibition, allowing others to have the chance to see what Barbara sees and what they cannot.
The piece of music we have been working with was identified by Barbara as being suitable for the purpose of the project because it was highly visual, but not as detailed and overwhelming as some experiences for her can be.
It was in discussion with Barbara that this idea of synaesthesia as something that everyone is born with, as suggested by researcher D.Maurer (1993), but that at some point in our developmental journey is lost that really struck a chord with me and has subsequently formed the basis of this thesis.

Although I have come into this research project in order to satisfy my own curiosities surrounding the synaesthetic experience, I have been conscious of not simply making something that is purely reflective of my own perception surrounding chromaesthesia. The collaborative nature of my research has been fundamental in the process of understanding. This collaboration has allowed for the equal partnership in the creation of Barbara’s visualisations and has allowed a true insight into the synaesthetic experience as expressed by Barbara outside a laboratory setting. We worked face to face in the comfort of her living room over a four-day period where I took notes, recordings and photographs to map out the visualisation both spatially and descriptively.

The way I was approaching the collaboration was as a union of the phenomenon and the individual, which allowed me to witness firsthand this forgotten ability that lay at the root of my research and to discover that this union was central in defining synaesthesia as a lost ability. Barbara was just as important a part of the research in terms of her synaesthetic experience as the synaesthetic experience was in relation to Barbara’s day-to-day perceptions.

I was not interested in creating statistics or in using our encounter as a showcase where Barbara was referred to as just another example of the “condition” of synaesthesia. I wanted to capture not only the phenomenon but also the human experience of synaesthesia. It seemed important to find out about the experience from the perspective of the individual and what it means to be a synaesthete. Barbara agreed that the collaborative relationship we formed worked extremely well and was in fact preferable to the science led experiments she has previously been a part of. These looked at synaesthesia as a separate scientific entity using Barbara purely in order to provide evidence and data.

 

 

5. Methodology

Along with the practical research mentioned previously, I will combine research from the following areas;
5.1-Synaesthesia within development: Here I will look at the relationship between synaesthesia and the development of  language, using these areas to demonstrate this;
5.1.2-Separation of our senses.
5.1.3-Neurological mechanics of synaesthesia.
5.1.4-Synaesthesia and language; The development of language and what this means for synaesthetic development, and synaesthesia as language.

5.2-Synaesthesia within culture: Here I will look at the history of synaesthesia within a cultural context, specifically looking at;
    5.2.2- Synaesthesia within Culture.
5.2.3-Spiritual enlightenment.
5.2.4-The search for the sublime;  Escaping a sense of anomie.
5.2.5-Ostranenie or ‘Making Strange’; Taking art out of context in order to reinstate an alternative perception to the viewer.

 

I will look at the above areas and discuss their relevance within my research. In doing so I will relate where possible, the individual experiences of synaesthesia as expressed by Barbara.

 

5.1.2-Separation of our Senses

It has been suggested previously by D.Maurer (1993) that everyone is born with synaesthetic ability . This acts, in the early stages of development (the first 4/5 months of infancy) as the transitional space that connects speech perception and colour perception in the absence of language, as written about in 1977 within Science journal outlining; Speech Perception in Infants .
The means by which the categorical perception of speech, that is, perception in a linguistic mode, is accomplished may well be part of the biological make up of the organism and, moreover, that these means must be operative at an expectantly early age.   
Eimas, P (1977)

After this initial sensory bombardment of information during early infancy, a process of modularization as noted by J. Foder (1983) is thought to occur . This is where the organization into our specific senses occurs. In terms of sensory modularization, it is when the senses form into the recognizable separate modalities. This process presumably takes place because it will allow for more efficient processing of information and is therefore highly adaptive. This is consistent with the ideas of Darwin and his theory of natural selection.

If the modularization of the senses occurs in an evolutionary way i.e. to help us adapt to and survive our environment, then that would suggest that synaesthesia which continues into adulthood might have negative implications. However this has been largely disproven, with the general consensus being that those with synaesthetic ability actually find it useful to, for example, see letters and numbers in colour, especially when it comes to remembering grapheme based information, as found in Van Campens book; The Hidden Sense: Synesthesia in Art and Science .

If we take into account our five basic senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste) this would give an initial twenty combinations of synaesthetic experience, including the ability for instance to taste shapes, feel colour and see music. However, if you add to this other sensory modalities such as temperature, pain, balance, proprioception (position and movement of joints and muscles) and interoception (internal sensation, i.e. hunger and heartbeat) the amount of possible combinations becomes far higher. In fact according to researcher Jamie Ward (2008), new combinations of synaesthetic experience are still being discovered so the specific number remains unknown.

 

 

5.1.3 Neurological mechanics of synaesthesia

Here [in hippocampal formation] the possibility exists for correlating not only olfactory, gustatory, and other visceral sensations, but auditory, visual, somesthetic and, perhaps, sexual sensations as well. In light of these observations, there is a possible neuroanatomic mechanism to explain some of the seemingly paradoxical overlapping (or synesthesia) of the various qualities contributing to emotional experience.                          MacLean (1949)

The hippocampus area of the brain, as mentioned above by P.D. MacLean (1949) is known for its role in memory and acts like a computer hard drive. This allows the individual to access information as required. These connections, which bring up the necessary information, can overlap causing cross talk  between areas of information that are usually separated. These areas (specifically V5, V3, and V4 in relation to chromaesthesia) are responsible for interpreting very different areas of visual information. Area V5 is responsible for the information associated with moving objects whilst V3 deals with form and depth. It is area V4, which receives most attention within chromaesthetic research as it processes colour information.

These areas which remain separated in non-synaesthetes can produce crossovers or cross talk in synaesthetes so the relayed information that is pulled up from the brains hard drive or memory (hippocampus) is experienced by the individual as a synaesthetic experience. For example, in colour-grapheme synaesthesia there is an automatic association of specific colours/textures with both letters and numbers. This could be said to be a result from this cross talk between areas V2 and V3 that are responsible for texture and colour respectively and the region associated in the identification of letters and numbers, as they lie adjacent to each other.
In an individual where by the infantile modularization development stage didn’t fully occur, it would be feasible that cross talk could happen. This information is relayed through the memory system to where these imprinted connections to a particular grapheme occur, thus allowing for consistencies within synaesthetic perception.

It became clear whilst working with Barbara’s visualisations, that it was not just a case of seeing colours in response to sound, but that texture is a big part of the visual construct.
Synaesthetic colours are often accompanied, according to D.M. Eagleman’s paper on Why Colour Synaesthesia Involves More Than Colour (2009) accompanied by the experience of other textural properties such as metal, fluids, materials, etc. during the audio to visual experience.  Whilst compiling information on Barbara’s experience to the music piece Sarabande, it became clear that the textural impression was more prominent in some instances than the colour. Colour seems to be included as an overlay, adding to the overall atmosphere of the piece, which is experienced visually in its entirety.

 

5.1.4 Synaesthesia and Language

It is through our individual cultural experiences that we are able to add to the general cultural pools that form the basis for our overall cultural preconceptions. However in doing so we may lose something. In strengthening our cultural connections through experience, i.e. acquisition of language, I suggest we perhaps lose our synaesthetic traits. Through the process of maturing we evolve both mentally and physically. But with gain there is often loss. This (I would suggest) comes in the form primarily of the loss of childhood innocence and general naivety of our environment. This happens with the separation of the senses during modularization specifically, which leads to the dissolving of synaesthetic ability.

Through maturity and knowledge, neurological barriers are instated; the first of which form to separate our sensory modalities, ensuring a structured approach to incoming information in order to achieve optimum clarity. We no longer need to absorb information all at once in a multisensory manner. As we evolve and acquire language, we learn to pick and choose only the relevant information from the constant bombardment, forgetting that which is unnecessary in order to adapt quickly and reach maturity.
We are constantly experiencing the world in a multisensory manner. However with time and cultural experience/conditioning, there develops a subconscious blocking and separating of information into what’s relevant and will benefit our human progression within our environment, and what can be discarded. These discarded experiences will become as we continue to grow a forgotten culture of experience in themselves, It is here that I suggest synaesthetic experience could become situated.

It is in and through language that man constitutes himself as a subject, because language alone establishes the concept of “ego” in reality, in its reality, which is that of the being.
The “subjectivity” we are discussing here is the capacity of the speaker to posit himself as “subject.” It is defined not by the feeling which everyone experiences of being himself… but as the psychic unity that transcends the totality of the actual experiences it assembles and that makes the permanence of the consciousness. Now we hold that that “subjectivity,” whether that is placed in phenomenology or in psychology, as one may wish, is only the emergence in the being of a fundamental property of language. […] that is where we see the foundation of “subjectivity,” which is determined by the linguistic status of “person.  ”          
           Emile Benveniste

The idea of language as a subjective indicator of the self, and as a reflection of our individual cultural experience, encourages exploration into the lost experience of synaesthesia as a primary language in itself. I suggest that it became inferior with the acquisition of verbal language, which allowed for inter-person communication. As language became more than just communicating an environment to the self, the self looked for ways to move away from an inner communication to a form that would allow for outward expression. This came in the form of verbal language, and with the learning of a more communicatory language. I suggest that the inner, highly subjective form of synaesthetic language becomes lost (in the majority of the population).

Language is not complete in any speaker; it exists perfectly only within a collectivity.
                 Marx (1969)

This above statement from Karl Marx (1969), whilst applicable for language is not the case for speech. Speech, as discussed by K. Silverman (1983) is localized and completely subjective to the individual involved . It is influenced by a whole variety of factors, like tonality, pitch, intonation and dialect, making it an entirely individual process.
I would like to suggest that synaesthesia, specifically chromaesthesia, in its very visual grounding is a form of speech within the cultural language system. It varies from person to person, much like the subtleties and variations found in normal language dialect.

 

Fig5. Example of basic colour shades; lighter, brighter shades usually indicate a higher pitch while darker shades are indicative of the lower bass tones. Desaturated scale from the same palette demonstrates variations of the same shade tone found in multiple colours, accounting for the variety of colours that will generally be associated by a similar or same base tone for which the impregnated colour choice simply acts as an overlay by way of identification aesthetically.  

It has been noted by researcher J.Ward (2004) that there are certain correlations between the colour to tone pairings experienced by synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes. . Generally it is the higher pitches that are reserved for the lighter and brighter colours whilst the low tones and bass notes are predominantly found to have matches of darker shades of colour. Because this observation has been noted for both synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes, this would again suggest that there is a sound-colour association imbedded within us all, whether that has been as a result of cultural conditioning, or a throw back to when we all possessed synaesthetic ability is unknown at this stage. One thing that is certain is that from speaking with Barbara, her visual experience of music and tone seem to follow this pattern, so perhaps within the recreated visualisation I am making from her experience the audience will find a subconscious relation to it.

In relation to the synaesthetic visualisations, as experienced by Barbara, it could be predicted that the overall saturation of a piece of music will be pretty consistent across both synaesthete and non-synaesthete individuals. That it is the exact colour associated with varying degrees of saturation and any accompanying pattern or shape that will be what separates these experiences, especially in the synaesthetic community.

I propose that this generalized perception of music-colour association forms the base language (like English for example) and that it is these subtle variations either within colour, pattern or physicality (for synaesthetes specifically) that is like a dialect within a synaesthetic language, much like the differences between Liverpudlian, Geordie or Aberdonian dialects within English.

See below for diagram demonstrating dialectical synaesthesia as language using a semiotic breakdown of some of Barbara’s visual components or dialects.

Fig6. Selection of simplified symbols and corresponding colour palette present within Barbara’s visualisation to the music piece; Sarabande. Performed by Raine and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and as used in the film Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975) 

 

5.2 Synaesthesia within culture

Historically, synaesthesia received a surge of interest in the late 19th century. As research turned more towards sociology and anthropology the interest in synaesthesia waned and dropped off the radar in favor of more measurable research areas such as those associated with behaviorism. It is now having another resurgence, and with the technology now available to ‘measure’ synaesthetic responses, for example through fMRI scans, it has once again become a promising research area. Synaesthesia allows for further insight into the human condition through the understanding of the various abilities associated with synaesthetic experience.

Culturally, language is unavoidable. We use it to communicate with others and to articulate our surroundings. Language in its various forms (verbal, pictorial, gestural etc.) under pins our society and it is through the cultural conditioning associated with learning language that I suggest synaesthetic experience becomes compromised. When speaking with Barbara, she described her early encounters with taught language, in particular; handwriting. She stated that the words being taught did not match the ones she had created synaesthetically in appearance at all.
She went on to explain that in order to be a part of this society, she would have to suppress her own synaesthetic understanding in favor of what was acceptable culturally. Even now in recalling these memories, the traces of her original synaesthetic impressions have been suppressed to the point of non-existence, which only reinforces the idea that some form of synaesthetic ability in everyone could indeed be a very real possibility. An ability that is lost due to the cultural experience of acquiring language.

Synaesthesia associated artworks and installations have included colour organs , which were used in public performances displaying abstract light shows as well as paintings by Wassily Kandinsky who is said to have had synaesthesia, and who it is thought used this ability in creating his works, to represent how he saw to specific pieces of music. 

 

Some synaesthete artists however, do not use their synaesthesia to influence their work. Painter David Hockney is also said to have synaesthesia but admits he only uses it when painting his stage sets. When describing the sets he painted for pieces such as Stravinsky'sThe Rake's Progress, Mozart's Magic Flute and Erik Satie's Parade he stated;

When I listened to the music, the tree just painted itself.
              D Hockney

This statement suggests that, in the absence of music there is no synaesthetic experience and therefore it is a conscious decision for Hockney not to create visual art whilst in a synaesthetic state as the influence is overpowering, and may lead to an outcome which would be appropriate when matching his theatre sets to this music but it is not what he wishes to achieve within his other works. He therefore must have to suppress his synaesthetic ability in order to create his works. This idea of synaesthetic artists possibly deciding whether to suppress or embrace their ability I found interesting.

I questioned Barbara to find out what her reaction as a synaesthetic artist was, did she feel in some way destined to be an artist because of her synaesthesia, does she embrace it wholly or does she feel that like Hockney, there are at times a need for synaesthetic suppression? Is her synaesthetic experience ever too overpowering?

She told me that whilst she had often thought about doing another profession, being in an artistic environment was always going to be within her comfort zone and has always been what has come most naturally to her. Barbara has a range of synaesthetic ability including smells having textures, which is primarily where her area of practice sits; i.e. capturing synaesthetic memory through smell. When you see the world in a multisensory was as Barbara does, a personal intuitive understanding of how your surroundings might be conveyed through language (verbal or written). Barbara found, that the written structural format of descriptive language did not replicate her own perceptions of what it should look like. This overall cultural understanding of language did not compute with her synaesthetic language.
Barbara admits that at times her synaesthesia can be too much and that a day off would be welcomed, not that she feels that she would rather not have synaesthesia at all. Whilst she is curious to experience a ‘normal’ perception of her surroundings she said that it would be like starting from scratch.
You have to remember that with synaesthesia, much like being dyslexic, the body and brain will adapt to work in ways that perhaps don’t seem consistent with more ordinary cultural assumptions but that none the less work for the individual. To strip synaesthetes of their ability is to enforce a new way of adapting, of filtering their surroundings.  
 

 

 

5.2.2 Synaesthesia and Spiritual Enlightenment

The modern world relied on artists and poets to create pallid simulations of what had been lost. From Shakespeare to Spielberg, William Blake to Joseph Beuys, these artistic evocations substituted for the transformative power of an actual encounter with a supernatural “other,” or the personal experience of an altered state. What had been banished from memory and suppressed from awareness could now be enjoyed as cathartic spectacle.
   D Pinchbeck. (2002)

This statement from Daniel Pinchbeck resonates with the idea of a lost experience. In his book; Breaking Open the Head, he discusses that the ‘altered state’, experienced through the consumption of various drugs is a means to accomplish an enlightened experience of the other, as mentioned above. The idea of recreating lost experience and encounters with a “supernatural other” as mentioned above, is an interesting notion.
These spiritual visualisations, (which, like my proposed theory for the forgotten synaesthetic experience,) become suppressed due to our need to progress and conform culturally/ socially. This results in some individuals feeling the need to seek a way back, (perhaps only on a purely subconscious level) to be able to experience this highly multisensory experience. This often involves the use of hallucinogenic drugs that are thought to recreate sensory experiences associated with an ideal of what spiritual enlightenment encompasses. This use of hallucinogens is written about in depth by Daniel Pinchbeck amongst others, and alludes to their consumption as being a gateway to experiencing spiritual vision.

Our tradition seems to deny us access to spiritual vision, and we have lost the Indians’ innate relation with the natural world as a sacred being.
And yet, if shamanism is a universal human phenomenon, we possess the innate ability to regain everything we have lost.
    D Pinchbeck. (2002)

This quote from Daniel Pinchbeck echoes my suggestion that we have lost something. Whilst I don’t discount his opinion of shamanism and associated drug use as being a possible path to spiritual vision, I suggest that this innate ability could also be applied to synaesthesia.
As a lost experience, synaesthetic ability alone holds the key to true spiritual vision as it is a naturally occurring state of mind not induced through drug use.

For those who go down the drug induced route in order to experience these visualisations associated with both synaesthesia and spiritual enlightenment or visions, it should be noted that this ‘altered reality’ acts only as a substitute for the authentic experience.
I noted whilst reading Pinchbecks book that the experiences documented, including some of his own and some from others, consistently feature everyday images. Images, which seem similar to a heightened dream state where the dreamer experiences elaborate and psychedelic visions, often stemming from the individuals own experiences, images situated in the ‘real’ world which they are trying to escape from.
When speaking with Barbara, I understand that in her synaesthetic experience, the visualisations, are what provide her with the basis for future reference and therefore act as a primary visual experience, whereas a drug induced experience can only produce secondary visions as the psychedelia conjured is subconsciously pre-programmed.
I think that the key factor to remember is that whilst a drug-induced hallucination does allow for a synaesthetic experience (e.g. seeing music visually) it is just that, a hallucination. What makes synaesthetic experience so extraordinary is that it is a natural phenomenon. It is a ‘real’ or untainted conscious experience, occurring without the aid of hallucinogens.

 

5.2.3 Synaesthesia and the search for the sublime

The highly intuitive and individualized nature of synaesthesia could be described as an experience of the sublime, in relation to the writings of Kant who states that the sublime ‘is to be found in a formless object ’. If synaesthesia is indeed an ability we all possess in infancy, I feel that the subconscious draw to reaffirm this infantile multisensory experience is probably inherent within all of us at various points.
The need for experiencing our surroundings anew can be linked with the ideas associated with a sense of anomie, as written about by Emile Durkheim.
Anomie describes a state of normlessness, which is implemented with the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and their community.
Therefore, in a culture where we have everything, nothing is shocking and nothing is truly new, where we experience everything in excess, as unnecessary objects of temporary passing enjoyment we find ourselves yearning for more. Not more ‘stuff’ but more reality, for a return to the untainted, unfiltered reality that sits beneath the facade of our gluttonous culture of excess.

A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks questioning itself and being engulfed in doubt. If it cannot discover the claims to existence of the objects of its questioning – and it would be miraculous if it so soon succeeded in solving so many mysteries – it will deny them all reality, the mere formulation of the problem already implying an inclination to negative solutions. But in doing so it will become void of all positive content and, will launch itself perforce into the emptiness of inner revere.
   E. Durkheim. (1897)

As synaesthetic experience is not constrained within an object, it cannot lead to this denied reality brought about by doubt, which sits at the root of anomie. I suggest that the re-affirmation of a lost ability such as synaesthesia would present a new reality, and with it form a path away from doubt as that is replaced by a positive state of higher perception.
To obtain the sublime experiences associated with sound-vision synaesthesia, the very experiences that our hyper culture allowed us to forget, is to escape this sense of anomie and experience our surroundings in a pre lingual state. I suggest that through the jogging of ones memory, through experiencing a recreated synaesthetic experience, it could perhaps be possible to reignite this infantile experience that culture ensured we forgot, through an altered experience of our reality. This process of experience, of regaining a lost state of mind, I feel, could result in diminishing a sense of anomie in the viewer as they regain this ‘higher state’ or higher perception, which is usually lost during infancy and can subsequently lead to a sense of anomie in adulthood.

This ‘higher state’, which is often met with cultural suppression in the West, is often received with a revered status in other cultures. When speaking with Barbara, she likened synaesthetic experience to a form of higher perception or consciousness, and suggested that whilst in other cultures this higher state is often revered, for example within Amazonian Shamanism , in the West we are unable to simply accept this difference of perception unless extensive scientific investigations can make space for and define it culturally to fit within our social expectations.

 

 

5.2.4 Synaesthesia and Ostranenie or ‘Making Strange’

Akin to this idea of cultural anomie is the concept ostranenie, developed by Victor Shklovsky, which he describes as follows and could be applied to the perceptions associated with synaesthetic ability, as synaesthetic experience displays the familiar in an unfamiliar way (for non-synaesthetes);

The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique of art is to make objects ‘unfamiliar’, to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged. Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object; the object is not important.
           V. Shklovsky. (1917)

Here it is suggested that art presents things that we are familiar with in a new, unfamiliar light through methodical manipulation. If this is the case then allowing non-synaesthetes to experience a synaesthetic experience would meet this criteria and give them an alternative appreciation of their environment.
I therefore feel that the concept of ostranenie can be applied within my research. Through the playing of music (the familiar) we will see a visual representation, an experience of the artfulness but in an unfamiliar manner. This concept would in theory apply to anyone viewing the visualisations, even other sound-vision synaesthetes, as everyone experiences different interpretations and therefore the visualisation would be unfamiliar to anyone viewing it with the accompanying music. The only persons that it would be familiar to are Barbara and myself. Barbara as it is taken from her visualisation in the first instance and myself as I recreated it.

In this process of creating, we as the artists become distanced from the work, as in it we now see the familiar. This role of the artist is seen as always being among people, but not of them, of remaining in the wings, observing continually the human condition, of finding ways of penetration through various artistic practices, through ostranenie.

 

3D visualisation

The practical aspect of the research, which sits alongside and encompasses the collaborative element, demonstrates a replicated synaesthetic experience. This not only promotes the abilities associated with synaesthesia but also aims to give back to the viewer, a sense of the ability that could lie dormant within.
After the initial process of finding a synaesthete willing to collaborate, which I did via the UK synaesthesia organization. I travelled down to meet with Barbara who lives just north of Brighton where I spent four days gathering a range of information from which I could work later. This included detailed sketches, audio and video recordings as well as fabric and pattern samples to use as inspiration when it came to the 3D modeling. (See appendices for evidence of this.)

Our working time was dictated by her synaesthesia, as external influences such as the weather could interfere and even suppress and cloud her visualisations. At these times we would change tactic and work on the specific descriptions and collect inspiration from images, fabrics and even film references were collected to work from later on in the creative process. It was a novel experience for both of us; Barbara had never had to concentrate so deliberately and for such prolonged periods of time on what she saw within the context of collaboration. A lot of the process was dependent on the physical and emotional demands such an exercise would put on both of us in our aim to gain as much from the collaborative process as possible during this initial out pouring of information within the inherent restrictions imposed by Barbara’s synaesthesia.

When discussing the effect of external factors that effect synaesthetic experience, including the weather in Barbara’s case, it was important to take into account other influential factors. It was through speaking with Barbara that it became clear that both coffee and painkillers could be factors also. In fact her experience of these substances confirmed the findings of neurologist Richard Cytowic who is renowned within the field of synaesthesia. He observed that the consumption of coffee would block while alcohol and in Barbara’s case painkillers would enhance synaesthetic experience .

The visuals being created were a mix of 3D and 2D animations, I used various software programs in order to achieve the visual results I was hoping for. These were After Effects Photoshop, Illustrator, Cinema 4D and Maya. As programs that I had no experience of, the challenge was difficult, and at times my lack of knowledge was frustrating.
In a similar way to how Barbara’s visualisations became compromised by her synaesthesia being so sensitive to external factors, I found that my re-creation of her visualisations was compromised by my frustration at having all the tools to do the work but lacking enough specific software knowledge to complete sufficiently.

 

 
6. Conclusion

It has always been my intention first and foremost to undertake this research in order to demonstrate physically, a phenomenon that has not (as far as I am aware) been replicated accurately through such a collaboration and how that may impact on the future of synaesthetic research. Through being able to spatially map out a persons most private experience, we are able to gain insight into the true synaesthetic experience. I suggest that only through collaboration involving such intimacies are we able to learn the most inner realms of what it means to be a synaesthete.

Uncovering synaesthetic experience allows further insight into the human condition. By researching through collaboration, the value of having synaesthetic experience has become clear. It allows for a far broader understanding of our surroundings, as in gauging a situation synaesthetes are receiving information from multiple sources in order to give a fuller picture of their environment. To put it simply; synaesthetes seem to experience their surroundings in high definition, whilst non-synaesthetes experience their environment in standard format.

Working with Barbara in such a close proximity within her own surroundings (her home) allowed for an alternative insight into synaesthesia to the one I have read about. It is usually written about within scientific journals as a “condition”, with case studies used primarily to fill in the gaps but all the while presenting synaesthesia more as a list of facts, figures and statistics within scientific research than as the natural human ability it is. Barbara herself has taken part in research in order to help get a better understanding of synaesthesia in its entirely however stopped as she felt like a human guinea pig. Referring to our own collaboration she actually commented on how preferable it was to work with someone who was interested as much in how her experience worked with her, rather than just her synaesthesia as a separate entity.
Whilst obviously an important part of our working relationship for her, I felt this to be a necessity considering that the synaesthetic experience is so subjective for the individuals who have it and therefore the human element is just as important as the experience itself.

As synaesthesia is idiosyncratic and therefore purely a subjective experience for the individual, I had aimed to gain feedback from others with the same ability of experiencing visual representations of sound, specifically music, and use their feedback along with non-synaesthetes to gauge how successful a project this has been on a broader scale than just Barbara and myself.
As the project developed it became clear just how much time and software knowledge was required, both of which I was lacking. The resulting animation is a stripped back version of what I had originally hoped for. Whilst I have been unable to achieve the fine detail I had originally sought to create, it has become clear that with further time to build on what I have already created, the outcomes possible would be representative of my initial visualisation for the project. With this in mind, I plan to continue with my research, both with the visual component as well as adding to the knowledge base I have started to build up with a particular focus into synaesthesia as language and synaesthesia as a lost experience.

As fascinating as it has been working in collaboration, I feel that in order to be fully successful, the opinions of other synaesthetes, what their views of the project in its entirety are will be just as valuable in determining if this process is able to gain acceptance within the synaesthete community before implementing it within a broader more scientific arena. I will therefore gather responses to the visualisation, both during the public exhibition and via online forums where I plan to upload the visualisation.
The project as a whole has been a success, despite perhaps biting off more than I could chew with aspects involved with the practical intervention. As a final note to end on, I put it to Barbara in order to gauge how she’d feel as a synaesthete, how would she feel if synaesthesia were to suddenly be available en masse, using the classic red pill/ blue pill analogy from the film the Matrix  or how she would feel if further projects like this were to become a success and subsequently churned out at theme parks as a new breed of multisensory experience. Her response was as follows;

My initial reaction is that it would be awful if everyone was a synaesthete, on a practical level I feel that it would not work, ... but then maybe the world would be a quieter place, it would have to be - imagine everyone getting overloaded, what chaos!  Then again everything would have to change to accommodate it so I'm not sure. I suppose in the scheme of things it would tip the balance to creating a whole new race of people but then would there be enough diversity?
If synaesthesia became suddenly available on mass in today's media intense climate
I would predict an entire upheaval/ revolution of the status quo. A sudden 'evolutionary jump' like that could go either way, ... it could sound idyllic in theory but I think it would be quite a neurological shock that could cause intense confusion/disorientation. If it's a question of the blue or red pill ( ie. a la Matrix) there would be no going back, so as in the matrix only certain minds under a certain age should be 'freed' , I'm sort of joking as it sounds awfully elitist but it would be like playing with fire - good premise for a film - 'invasion of the V4 connection 'snatchers' or 'the synaestriffids'!

I can't imagine them [theme parks] really getting it right, it sounds horrendously tacky. That sort of thing would need to be done 'gently' and with some finesse, I think that the experience of synaesthesia as a 'one off' and done 'tastefully' is ok for educational purposes and could be useful, but a gimmicky approach would in my opinion promote a false vision, I'm sure of it - it would be all about money rather than reality...I shudder at the thought - truly!!                                  B. Ryan (2012)

Bibliography

Books
Baudelaire, C. (1964) The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays, (transl. and ed. by Mayne, J.) Phaidon, London
Bourriard, N. (2002) Relational Aesthetics. Les presses du reel, France.

Blackmore, S. (1999) The Meme Machine. Oxford University Press.

Brewster, B. Trans (1969) For Marx. Pantheon Books, New York.

Carter, M. (1990) Framing Art; Introducing theory and the visual image, Hale and Iremonger, Brookvale.

Cytowic, R.E. (1989) Synesthesia: a union of the senses. New York: Springer Verlag.

Fodor, J. (1983) The modularity of mind. MIT/Bradford Books.

Fried, M. (1998) Art and Objecthood. The University of Chicago Press, USA.
Grenfell, M. Hardy, C. (2007) Art rules: Pierre Bourdieu and the visual arts. Oxford International Publishers Ltd. New York.
Harrison, C and Wood, P. (1993) Modernism in Dispute; Art since the forties. Yale University press. USA.

Hutsmans, J.K. (2003) Against Nature (A Rebours) Penguin Classics, London.

Huxley, A. (2004) The Doors of Perception. 2nd ed. Vintage, London.

Kant, I. (1952) Kant’s Critique of Judgement (Meredith, J. C. Trans.) Oxford University Press. UK.

Leary, T. (1992) The Psychedelic Experience. 3nd ed. Penguin Books, London.

Luscher, M. (1990) The Luscher Colour Test, (Scott. I. Trans.) Pocket Publishing. USA

Macpherson, F. (2011) The Senses: Classic and contemporary Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford University Press, New York.

Mattis, O. Brougher, K. (2005) Visual music: synaesthesia in art and music since 1900. Thames & Hudson, London.

Payne, M. (1993) Reading Theory; An Introduction to Lacan, Derrida, and Kristeva. Blackwell, Oxford.

Pinchbeck, D. (2002) Breaking Open the Head. Broadway books, USA.

Silverman, K. (1983) The Subject of Semiotics. Oxford University Press, UK.

Van Campen, C (2008) The Hidden Sense: Synesthesia in Art and Science. The MIT Press, London.

Ward, J. (2008) The Frog Who Croaked Blue: Synesthesia and the mixing of the senses. 2nd ed. Routledge, London.

Journals/ Papers

Dixon MJ, Smilek D, Merikle PM: Not all synaesthetes are created equal: Projector versus associator synaesthetes. Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience 2004

Eimas, P., Siqueland, E., & Vigorito, J. (1977) Speech Perception in Infants. Science, 171

Heyrman, H. (2005) Art and Synesthesia: in search of the synesthetic experience [First International Conference on Art and Synesthesia]. 25th-28th July 2005.

MacLean, P.D. (1949) No Title. Psychosomatic Disease and the “Visceral Brain”Recent Developments Bearing on the Papez Theory of Emotion

Maurer, D. (1993) Neonatal synesthesia: implications for the processing of speech and faces. In de Boysson-Bardies, B.,de Schonen, S., Jusczyk, P., McNeilage, P., & Morton, J. (Eds) Developmental Neurocognition: Speech and face processingin the first year of life. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

Shklovsky, V. (1917) ‘Art as Technique’  (Lemon, L.T. Reis, M.J. Trans) Russian Formalist Criticism Four Essays. Bison Books, Winnipeg, Canada, pp.2-14.

Ward, J., 2004. Emotionally mediated synaesthesia. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 21(7)

Television Programmes
Do you see what I see? (2011). BBC Horizon, 8th August 2012.
Blink: A Horizon Guide to the Senses (2012). BBC Horizon, 15 July 2012.

Websites

Adobe (2010) After Effects (Version CS5) [Computer Programme] Available at: http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite.html?promoid=JOLIS (Accessed: March 2012)

Autodesk (2012) Maya (Version 2013)   Available at: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/u/gsearch/results?siteID=123112&catID=123155&id=2088334&qt=maya+2012 (Accessed: July 2012)

Chanson du soir (2011) Youtube, Dancing particles. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEJcropedqc&feature=related (Accessed: 14 April 2012)

Eagleman, D.M. & Goodale, M.A., Why color synesthesia involves more than color. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Available at: http://www.eaglemanlab.net/papers/EaglemanGoodaleTICS2009_TextureSynesthesia.pdf. (Accessed: 24 June 2012)
Finlay, L (2008) ‘Introducing phenomenological research’, Phenomenology. Available at: http://www.lindafinlay.co.uk/An%20introduction%20to%20phenomenology%202008.doc (Accessed: 12 May 2012)
Google Books, Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eie_aABElgMC&pg=PT233&lpg=PT233&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed: 4 August 2012)

Harbisson, N. (2012) Ted Talks, I Listen to Colour. Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_harbisson_i_listen_to_color.html (Accessed 3 August 2012)

Maxon (2011) Cinema 4D (Version 12) [Computer Programme] Available at: http://www.maxon.net/ (Accessed: May 2012)

Poetry @ Suite 101 (2011) Available at: http://suite101.com/article/william-blakes-a-cradle-song-a336034 (Accessed: 2 August 2012).

Poem Hunter (2003) Available at: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-cradle-song/ (Accessed: 2 August 2012).

Red Giant (2011) Trapcode (Particular Plugin) [Computer Programme] Available at: http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/all/trapcode-particular/ (Accessed: April 2012)

Takahashi, R.  Takashi , X. Noriko Nagata, F. Sugio, T. Inokuchi, S. (2006) ‘Brain Activity in Colored-hearing Synesthetes When Listening to Music: An fMRI Study.’ [online] Available at: http://ist.ksc.kwansei.ac.jp/~nagata/nagata_lab_folder/nagata_lab/publication/pdf/ICCSA_takahashi.pdf. (Accessed March 2012)
Ward, O. (2006) ‘The Man Who Heard His Paint Box Hiss’ The Telegraph, 10 June [online] Available at; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3653012/The-man-who-heard-his-paintbox-hiss.html# (Accessed: 22 February 2012).

 

 

 

 

Appendices
(Interviews)

Transcripts of conversations between synaesthete B. Ryan and Researcher A. Thomson (June 2012)

B. Ryan.- Anna I just keep thinking that anybody could do this. Isn’t it really kind of obvious?

A. Thomson.- How do you mean? My creating a visual for it?

B.R.- It doesn’t seem anything extraordinary or profound, it just seems normal.

A.T.- But for most people it’s not.

B.- I know that, its just hard for me to… yeah.

A.- In the same way it’s hard for you to grasp how its… yeah.

B.- Don’t you see things when we’re listening?

A.- nothing.

B.- Nothing?!

A.- No I don’t see anything but I’ve come to understand the piece how you see it because of taking notes etc.. so I probably could go through the whole piece and describe to you how it should look..

B.- Yeah

A.- But I’m not seeing anything.. I’m trying though!

B.- Laughs.

A.- that’s why I think it will be a difficult thing to recreate because obviously I’m doing it blind really, which is why I’m trying to get as much information as possible.

 

 

Interview with Barbara Ryan (June 2012)

A. Thomson.- What effects your synaesthesia and how does it effect it?

B. Ryan.- Everything! The weather really does. No one talks about the weather affecting their synaesthesia in conferences I’ve been to or articles I’ve read. I’ve never heard anyone say that weather affects their synaesthesia but for me it’s always a big factor. The more clam it is the clearer my visualisations will be as I project them so its easier to see them properly against a calm background. With storms there’s more movement going on and more movement; for example trees moving in the wind, which I register as a kind of silent sound. Even if I’m behind glass or inside and cant really hear it I still perceive it as a sound, it’s difficult to explain, it’s like I can hear the movement but it’s a silent sound. These “sounds” have colours also.
It’s like I am aware of the interference in an auditory way. Its not like spoken word or regular sound, it’s a silent sound, that sounds crazy but its like a whooshing. The movement tries to translate to sound. It doesn’t fully so it’s still quite faint.
With that, if its light or dark outside, that affects it also. There’s a whole range of things that affect it really, even down to the time of the day. I find it easier to do this [collaboration] at night or in the evenings as the light is more consistent as it can be controlled artificially. There are fewer stimuli than in the day where it is constant.
Painkillers also help enormously, they take out the extraneous noise or sensation and I think it’s the same with alcohol. Yes, you know how alcohol dulls your perception; it takes out the extraneous noise. I’m thinking of the times I’ve taken quite a lot of pain killers and I’ve woken up and I’m aware that I’m nicely cocooned and it’s almost like being a little bit deaf. It softens things.
Stress and also being hungry seem to heighten it.

A.- Are low notes positioned lower down spatially and higher notes positioned higher up?

B.- Yes.

A.- Are they related to specific colours or shades?

B.- Yes, low notes are darker and higher notes are lighter. Yes, it does follow that pattern.

A.- Can you switch your synaesthesia off?

B.- I can ignore it, I can put it into the background so it’s grey, to concentrate on something but it’s always there. Any colour that it has becomes desaturated and it moves into the peripheral vision.
Its like having an built in filter, sometimes it can be overpowering though, like a cacophony and when I’m doing my own work I block out sounds that aren’t necessary to the piece. Like with what we’re doing now I have to filter it in order to simplify it.
It also depends on what I am doing, its [synaesthesia] very instinctive to me depending on the situation. At times I would like to have more control over my syn for example stress and illness impact it and usually ends up in a bombardment. Its easier to turn my syn up than to turn it down.

A.- Have you always had synaesthesia?

B.- Yes.

A.- When did you realise that not everyone had it?

B.- That’s a difficult question to answer. I must have realised as a child that I perceived things differently but I didn’t know it was called synaesthesia. As a child you speak about things in different ways so I could have been talking about it but not realised that it was synaesthesia.
The key moment that I realised “it” had a name would have been about 1996, which was when I came across it as a concept.

A.- How did you find schooling?

B.- I remember being taught “language” but wanting to make up my own alphabet. I found that a particular form of shorthand that my mother used… I can’t remember exactly, but this was far more suited. It was more musical in appearance. This old perception faded out completely over time though, I could perhaps now if I really thought about it create a better one but it would still probably be different to my initial ideas that I had as a child.
Later on in art school I found that the culture of learning could suppress synaesthetic experience being translated as syn is free-er and more organic and unstructured. By unlearning what I was taught I ‘lost’ my ability to represent visually what I was seeing. I regained this half way through when I realised that I would have to play along and learn in the way that society approved in order to fit in. It was just like what I mentioned previously about my alphabet.

A.- Do you have certain methods for ‘fitting in’?

B.- Synaesthesia is quite like dyslexia, you make up your own methods of learning within our cultural constraints. There’s an element of savantism within people with syn for example working out quicker ways to adapt learning methods within a structured culture.

A.- Does it ever get in the way and do you have an example if it does?

B.- Yes it does get in the way, noisy environments can be difficult to think in because I cant see my thoughts clearly. If its noisy I cant see a space to project my thoughts onto as it’s filled with lots of black lines from all the noise interference. So in noisy places I find it difficult to keep track of my thoughts and not be side tracked by other people’s noise.

A.- Do you ever wish you could not have synaesthesia?

B.- Yes. But only for a day out of curiosity, it would be difficult as I’d have to relearn everything again as I’m so used to my adapted methods.

A.- Do you think synaesthetic traits are present in other cultures but perhaps more accepted?

B.- Yes. I think it can be associated with a higher form of perception/consciousness. I can imagine it to be taken for granted in other cultures, for example within Shamanic traditions but not here in the West. Its almost like it’s a given in other cultures where as in the West we have to measure and investigate before something is accepted as reality and in that process the charm is lost. Synaesthesia allows you to experience things in a very pure and direct way.

A.- Are some sounds more visual than others?

B.- Some sounds that accompany smells are move vivid, especially human/ bodily smells.

A.- Are there some sounds that are unbearable due to your synaesthesia?

B.- Yes, but I thought that was quite normal? A screaming child I would have to run away from as it’s physically painful. I thought it was quite normal for certain sounds to be painful, not just down to synaesthesia?

A.- No, not to the degree you are speaking of.
Are there specific genres that your synaesthesia lends itself to?

B.- It depends really, some pieces like operas for example can be very powerful but there’s so much going on that it would be far to difficult to try and reproduce. I really avoid jazz music, as its so unharmonious visually, its very ugly and sharp. Its very painful because of the sharp edges, which stab into my ears, its painful.

A.- What is your current artwork about?

B.- I am currently working towards a series of exhibitions related to synaesthesia, specifically space-time syn in relation to memory and smell.

Transcripts of descriptive conversations regarding visualisations between synaesthete B. Ryan and Researcher A. Thomson (June 2012)

 

B.- The triangles, they move.. (fold paper to demonstrate the way they move) they sort of move like this (demonstrates). There’s a pillar of them and they wiggle back and forth really, really fast. They’re more of an equilateral triangle than an isosceles.

A.- Are they paired up, moving against each other?

B.- Yes, but still stacked up. They move in a cartoon way almost there’s a way that things move in cartoons when it’s very fast, do you know what I mean?

A.- Almost vibrating they’re going so fast which will go in time with the music as its very vibratory.
So how many triangles are there in the stack?

B.- A minimum of eight triangles, what have you got drawn there. Eight, yes that’ll be fine. (See reference drawings detailing triangle stack/ pillar.)
It doesn’t really matter because they are going so fast but around eight.

A.- Then they wont become lost, they will still be identifiable, you will still be able to see the stripes.

B.- Yes. And the stripes never go vertical they are always, always horizontal.
With the vibrations it might be best to speed it up so you almost lose track of the triangle shape but you will still be able to make out the stripes of colour. (see diagram for further detail)

Transcripts of descriptive conversations regarding visualisations between synaesthete B. Ryan and Researcher A. Thomson continued (June 2012)

 

B.- There’s many layers.

A.- A lot of stuff going on.

B.- Yeah.
At the same time there are these tiers going on like a wedding cake thing rising up, although they are behind and above.

A.- So the fans are in front but you are aware of what happening in the background building up and getting higher, getting… out of control?
Sorry I don’t mean to try to put words in your mouth!..

B.- No, no, no that’s right, it’s not out of control - it’s very beautiful, it’s astonishing to watch, but in terms of reproducing it, it could be out of control. It could be just too, too much.

A.- Its still structured, by out of control I mean in size as it gets higher it gets bigger.

B.-  Yes.

A.- So the fans open out to half way as the frame gets higher.

B.- The frame turns into the wedding cake like structure.

A.- Ok. Does the fan remain in front or does it fade out?

B.- That depends on what I’m focusing on but for our purposes it might be easier if we keep the fan in front.

A.- So they start off vey small and get bigger?

B.- Yes, except it’s the other way around, oh god I’m sorry!

A.- How do you mean?... they’ re getting bigger as they come out?

B.- Yes but at the same time they’re not, they’re doing two things at once. They’re the same size as they go up but it’s two structures with two overlays. One is looking at it so its getting smaller as it comes out and it’s inverted so it’s also seen to be getting bigger as it comes out…

A.- hmmmm

B.- Yeah it’s tricky so it might be best to try and simplify it.

A.- Yeah because I don’t know how I’d go about recreating that!..

 

-Re-listen to music-

B.- Ok to simplify it , the fans open out and get smaller telescopically, but not massively just a little bit smaller. Then you have almost scroll like objects come out of the top tier. This is in the last few seconds before the big finish with the triangles. So before they come in, with the final curl of the ‘scrolls’ outwards, they then whip back in to the centre and then the triangles are the forefront so you don’t see the tiered structure as that’s not in focus as the music brings in the triangles for the end and its so overpowering that that’s all you can focus on really.