Synaesthesia - Sensory Stimulation.

A perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. In some people this can result in them tasting colours or being able to ‘see’ music. I believe that all people experience this to some degree, you might smell a waft of a particular scent and be hit with memories, colours, etc.

I also believe that you can hone this skill. If you can train your senses you also strengthen the bond between them. Practicing creativity is one of the best ways to do this. And you should do this not just as a neurological experiment, but because training these senses and bonds really aids your cognitive decline as you age. People who lose their sights, smell, hearing - all have increased risk of dementia and other cognitive diseases/issues. Actively experiencing new sounds, tastes, smells, textures allows us to widen our worldview and strengthen our minds.

RISE at MMU is the award-winning programme that extends learning beyond the classroom – enhancing critical skills such as creativity, problem solving, design and digital skills. As part of this course, I developed a series of synaesthesia workshops in which people could use pens, pencils, crayons, paint, stickers, confetti, pasta - whatever the community centres, schools and libraries that host them can provide - to draw and create to music.

Inspired by a similar series that I attended on my UAL foundation year, I tested my workshop with 1st year RISE students. I started the session, delivered over zoom (covid era, again) with an introduction to synaesthesia that included celebrities who claim to have the condition (Kanye West, Billie Eilish, Frank Ocean, Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer, for example). We then played an eclectic series of songs and using whatever art tools they had to hand were told to freely draw in response to the music. The attendees were restricted to a single A4 piece of paper (any colour) as their canvas but could do whatever they wanted within those four walls.

The results were fantastic and people were welcomed to share their creations either held up to the camera or shared in the chat as a picture. Responses ranged from simple pencil or black biro doodles to multicoloured sketches. Whilst some people found the experience a little silly - those who embraced that silliness and allowed their hand to react to the music created some gorgeous pieces of art.

I’ve listed below some of my own personal responses to these sessions as examples of the creations we’ve generated. People have expressed real enthusiasm to continue to create like this beyond the sessions and as this is far from a unique idea, I’d invite anyone to try it out for themselves, especially those of you who feel they ‘aren’t creative’ or ‘lack imagination’ - if I can get my mam to do it, anyone can.