“The Lyrical,” by Wassily Kandinsky

This week, as we are taking on our Field Recording Gestalt assignment, turning sounds into abstract visual representations, this process reminds me of the phenomenon of synesthesia. Synesthesia occurs when one cognitive process/sense triggers a second unrelated cognitive process/sense; one of the most common forms of synesthesia happens when someone hears a sound and automatically sees a color. Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian abstract painter, depicts his uncommon perceptual experience in “The Lyrical,” and he explains, “The sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with bass notes or dark lake with treble.”

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