On Synesthesia

Seed Magazine's "The Most Beautiful Painting You've Ever Heard"discusses synesthesia, which the publication describes as "the neurological mixing of the senses". (One common example is "seeing" images when they listening to music.) This condition reportedly affects one to four percent of people worldwide and is noted to run in families. It's believed that no two synesthetes have exactly the same perceptual experiences. Some feel that synesthesia might be a result of some kind of "cross wiring" in the brain.

Interestingly, says the magazine, scientists estimate that synesthesia is about seven times more common in poets, novelists, and artists than in the rest of the population. And several studies are examining the phenomenon, "with hopes of answering even bigger questions about how every brain perceives art".

As an fine artist, it's fascinating to consider how genes might correspond to how people actually see the world. And it's making me wonder if perhaps video, with its ability to create a synesthetic experience for non-synesthetes, may actually be the most powerful of visual art forms.