Synesthesia live painting show – Developing public awareness of synesthesia phenomenon

Author: Dyah Ratna Permatasari – DoctoRabbit Science Inc., Indonesia

Co-authors:
Dyah Ratna Permatasari – DoctoRabbit Science Inc.
Andra Semesta – DoctoRabbit Science Inc.

Synesthesia (or synaesthesia) is a psychological phenomenon that may not be popular in developing countries like Indonesia. It is an ability of sense something using two or more senses, that may look weird for lay public. Sometimes it is seen as a disease.

Scientifically, synesthesia could be explained using neurology. It comes from Greek words: syn means together and aesthesis means perception, therefore synesthesia could also be called joined perception. It is a multisensory connection in the brain.

There are various types of synesthesia, the last report stated more than 60 types of synesthesia have been discovered. It is considered a special gift since there is 4.4 percent of world population estimated to have this phenomenon (Safran AB, Sanda N. Color synesthesia. Insight into perception, emotion, and consciousness. Current Opinion in Neurology. 2015).

We have developed a live painting show by Andra Semesta, the co-author of this abstract who happened to be a synesthete, that showed the synesthesia process of his painting while hearing music. The live painting show would take around 7 to 10 minutes.

We also invite the audience to join the activity to draw using crayon while hearing the same music. We could see why the colors are chosen by the painters. Would the chosen colors be the same? That is the game of this show. Then, we could easily share the information regarding synesthesia to the audience.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Workshop
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Applying science communication research to practice