Photisms: Entangled Senses

Voiceover

Presenter Information(s)

Ryan Cooper

Abstract or Description

RaCAS Abstract

Ryan Cooper

Media Exhibit within Arts & Media

As I was talking with my friend about his experiences regarding the phenomenon known

as synesthesia, he was able to describe a full abstract landscape based on a song we were

listening to. This was the inception of Photisms, which are the synesthetic visual sensations

perceived by people affected with synesthesia. Growing up in Colorado, I always appreciated nature and the sounds it created, forming a unique sensory experience. The camera and visual elements allow me to highlight the interconnectedness of sights and sounds, and how certain stimulants invoke specific moods by emphasizing specific synesthetic textures and colors.

An arrangement of synesthete Alexander Scriabin’s 24 Preludes accompanies the

imagery. Scriabin associated musical keys with colors, which originally was an organizational

method for himself but later influenced his writing. This composer’s scores can also be found as marks within the images.

Photisms takes traditional photographic subjects and combines and reframes them to

expand the medium past the singular sense of sight. Both synesthetes and non-synesthetes can

connect tones with colors, demonstrating the hidden functions in our brains and displaying a

relation between all people. This link is reflected in the panoramic image ratio and the dissolving of human and instrumental forms into the landscape. This is done in a digital workspace I like to consider my playground. The different components fit like pieces in a puzzle within the compositions, like how humans are just cogs in the machine that is our world. I hope my viewers can use the atmosphere I create to reflect on their own personal connection to nature and their senses.

Mentor

William Adams