Courtney Humphries’s “The great sensory mix-up’’ (Ideas, Dec. 11) was quite interesting to me. As an artist, I am well aware of the synergy that results within the senses, and believe most artists are too. Synesthesia is the intake of one aesthetic sense with the result of other senses arising. For example, one can look at a painting and have it bring back music to the ears. In the same way, one can imbue an art gallery with music and good wine and have the exhibition come off more successfully, as the entire experience creates a treat for the senses.
The fine art of cross-sensory perception
OUR SENSES, HEIGHTENED | Letters
Wine lovers often speak of the combination of senses that a wine brings about. Not to mention that wine imbibed during your vacation in Italy will become a special memory from then forward - a combination of scenery, taste, smell, and relaxation.
“Cross-sensory perception’’ has been alive and well for quite some time in the art world. In this regard, the article misses a crucial point, one of aesthetics and not neuroscience. It is a matter of aesthetic sensibilities and awareness to one’s memories and present environment that lead to sensory combinations. To reduce it all to neurons is to lose the spirit of it all.
Robert Castagna
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