Synaesthesia Magazine Sound | Page 56

It’d also be crazy not to mention the Futurists and all the work they did with sensory installations, like Marinetti’s Futurist Cookbook. (It’s worth checking out Valentine de Saint-Point, one of the few female futurists.) Also Thomas Wilfred’s colour organs (Clavilux), Stan Brakhage’s films, Charles Baudelaire, Claude Debussy, symbolist poetry, and just so many other people who have been experimenting with the senses. It’s impossible to get them all down. There are also some incredible researchers out there: David Howes (Concordia University), Jools Simner, Jamie Ward, Sarah McCartney, Charles Michel, Daniel Ospina, Sharen Weeks, Victoria Hume, Sense UK, Sensory Spectacle… the list goes on and on and on. We loved the use of music from string instruments in the Sensory Score; why choose strings? How important was sound in the performance? Thank you! Good question – this was a very specific part of the process for Tanya as we wanted something that would echo a traditional classical performance. We thought a string trio would conjure this atmosphere. Plus, Tanya was so excited to experiment with strings; as she says, the strings were her rocket launch! Is there anything that the performers/ participators find difficult or awkward/ invasive? We have a full report written by Clare Jonas; audience feedback suggested that taste or touch were often considered invasive, but these elements were also the most affecting for others. We found that: - Sound was considered the most important sense stimulation of the experience - Overall, the experience conjured positive reactions: joy, relaxation, elation, happiness, trust, comfort - People were not interacting with the smell (perfumes). In future, we hope to repeat a concert where no smells are smelt and compare findings - The more recognisable the sensory experience was – for example, a taste was put in an audience member’s mouth or a chair tipped backwards – the more it was mentioned. We wondered if next time we could involve less word-focused description and more abstract description, so perhaps a demonstration or drawing. This would encourage the ability to explore less concrete and recognisable sensations, like warmth from reiki - Taste evoked the strongest reactions. In some cases, taste was reported as overwhelming or distracting for an audience member’s ability to concentrate on the music. But the nicer the tastes – like white chocolate – the more people liked it - Touch is regarded as the most appropriate sense to evoke the music, but movement and taste share a fairly equal position as second.. How do you know what is going to work on the night and how do you come up with ideas and sequences? We don’t! Every night is an experiment. But we also have an extensive devising process, which combines a lot of playing with the music and brainstorming our instant reactions to the music. The devising process for the Sensory Score involved Anna Pearce, Eileih Muir and Ashraf Ejjbair and involved us assessing our crossmodal associations to the music, sharing and debating these ideas and finding sensory relationships and experiences that match.