SOME GENTLE AND STRANGE PERCEPTIONS
I must escape from the broad daylight which takes me by the eyes,
which takes my eyes and fills them with broad raw visions.
I do not want to see what is shown.
I want to see what is secret.
What is hidden amongst the visible.
I want to see the skin of the light.
Helene Cixous, Stigmata
PART 1
Can synesthesia be learned or practiced?
You pick a sense and associate it with another: color has a scent, sound has a texture, a word has a taste. A certain sound might always conjure the color green, or a letter might taste like cinnamon.
Sometimes when people develop these synesthetic connections, for instance between sound and color, they can sometimes develop connections in other areas that have nothing to do with sound and color.
Initially, that might not seem very useful, but once you start associating those things, you’re building new pathways.
What happens when we can tap into this sensory experience of the world? Cross-wire our perceptions and ways of seeing things? What new entry points open up when we veer away from direct ways of thinking, speaking, storytelling?
What follows are some attempts at sensing in all directions and intentional synesthesia.