Does color have emotion? Do tastes have shapes?
There’s a condition called synesthesia as many as 1 in 23 people experience that causes their senses to overlap. This condition manifests itself in many different ways. A couple of my favorites:
- Some synesthetes will “taste shapes” when they are eating. They might describe a piece of chicken as pointy or round.
- Some synesthetes will see colors in music. My friend used to complain when I switched the key of a song, because it changed the “color” of the song. “The song sounds red now, it would be better in the original key.”
I wish I was synesthetic…I think it might open up a world of creativity that’s previously been closed to me. Many synesthetes use the condition to aid in their creativity. Unfortunately, it’s not a voluntary condition.
Inspired by synesthetes, many without the condition create art to understand the process. Instead of using the traditional sensory descriptors to explain events and emotions, they will portray smells through colors, feelings with numbers, etc. Now while this may elude some of us with its abstract complexity, I have found an exercise that might help us develop the “synsesthete” in each of us. Color and shape journaling. Instead of writing, chronicle emotions and experiences with colors and shapes.
That’s what Carrie Firman did with her memory diary. It’s interactive. Check it out.
(Art by artist Wassily Kandinsky.)