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[microsound] synethesia?
hallo.
i am curious about other peoples ideas regarding the concept of
"synethesia". it seems to get tossed around in the context of
performances or works that revolve around "intermediality" (ie. AV,
audio that triggers/intersacts with video etc).
synaesthesia is a concept that, like any other, can be tossed around or
investigated and referred to appropriately.
yes, it is used (and misused) in the domain of live audio-visual
interaction performances.
it can be misused conceptually, but to me what counts is the practice.
what you see and hear, what relationships, what are you trying to tell
me and how i relate to your universe.
the term actually refers to where one type of stimulation evokes the
sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the
visualization of a color.
this typically occurs within the brain of the recipient of a particular
sensation, and their brain does the rest, somehow crossing the wires
and producing some other sensual effect.
in the case of an AV show, this crossing of the wires is imposed by the
artist, pre-meditated (pre-mediated) and actually lessens the chance of
a "real" synethesia from occuring... perhaps iit would be better
described as a "lazy-mans synethesia"... it seems like people use the
term to evoke some relation to psychedelia.
i wouldn't be so dismissive.
an AV show occurs as a mixed-media performance. as such it 'means' to
stimulate both sight and hearing.
when sounds and visuals are conceived 'as a whole' i feel they carry a
tremendous evokative power.
one may see a relation with psychedelia, certainly, but that's not all
there is to it.
the best AV performances i've seen are able to provide the viewer with a
'means' to enter a 'world' and to be free to interpret and adjust it to
his own.
not all AV performances have turned out to be so effective. but this is
also true for other media.
---
My only thought regarding the concept of synesthesia is that I'm sick
of hearing the term. It is beginning to lose all meaning. I realize
that's not a productive comment, but I can't be the only person
thinking that...
i guess that all over-repeated terms lose their meaning.
this doesn't imply it doesn't have one.
personally i find audiovisual synaesthesia extremely fascinating and
expressively fecund, in terms of expressive urge and practice.
i think it's really suspect when people start throwing these words
around carelessly -- they just become 'buzz words' in the old sense.
terrible! a great way to suck a word dry of its meaning. synaesthesia
is a very fascinating -- but also very specific -- phenomenon that i
don't think should be muddied in order to make someone's A/V show seem
cooler than it may otherwise be.
ok. but that happens with all kind of terms. think about 'experimental'
or 'electronic' or 'laptop music' and so on and so forth.
don't these terms sound ridiculous sometimes?
does it not always depend on HOW?
maikko
--
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http://www.microsuoni.com/labels/otolab.html
http://www.risonanza-magnetica.com/label.php?id=028
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