Dr. Polina Dimova, scholar of Russian and European literature, music, and visual art, was the guest speaker at the April 2019 Music Research Forum. Dr. Dimova presented on modernist artists’ experience and fascination with synesthesia -- the phenomenon of mixing the senses (e.g. perceiving sounds as colors). Dr. Dimova presented examples from the work of artists such as Annie Besant, Wassily Kandinsky, and Frank Kupka, who are all thought to have been synesthetes. She also discussed how artistic movements have shaped cultural associations – for example, how the Bauhaus movement has created cultural color associations between certain shapes and primary colors. Forum members discussed the difference between true synesthesia (automatic and consistent cross-sensory perception), cultural associations, and artistic metaphors. With forum members ranging from backgrounds in the fields of art and English to psychology and neuroscience, subsequent discussions considered what is meant by “evidence” for synesthesia and how to integrate anecdotes, case studies, and controlled experiments to understanding cross-disciplinary topics such as synesthesia.
The discussion group participated in several experiential exercises, testing their own color and music associations with different musical and visual prompts. For example, forum members listened to an excerpt of Richard Wagner’s “Prelude to Lohengrin” and shared their own color associations. While individuals varied in their specific color associations (e.g., warm colors of oranges and yellow vs. cool colors like blue and purple), all connected the colors and images in their heads with feelings of growth and new beginnings.
