International Interdisciplinary Conference:

SYNAESTHESIA.
Discussing a Phenomenon in the Arts, Humanities and (Neuro-)Science

As a theoretical addition to our ongoing exhibition series SYNAESTHESIA (October 2012 - July 2013/ http://artlaboratory-berlin.org/home_eng.htm), Art Laboratory Berlin will hold an international interdisciplinary conference to further explore and theoretically question the field of multisensory perception.

The term "synaesthesia", from the Greek "aisthesis" ("Sensation", "sensory impression") and "syn" ("together") means the experience of two or more sensory impressions at the same time. Currently there is a strikingly strong interest in the coupling of the senses in science, humanities and in contemporary art. This should come as no surprise: Our daily life in recent years has been subject to ever more multimedia and multisensory experiences. Comparing the latest technologies in the field of communication we come upon the radical technological development during the last 25 years: music video (text, music, colour), computer (as "total" sensory object) and also newest multiple forms of mobile phones (not only used for calls, but as a photo camera, music player or text machine, etc.).

It is the aim of Art Laboratory Berlin to grasp the specific impulses of our current complex, synchronous and technologised society on the phenomenon of synaesthesia, with its distinctive form of sensory fluctuation. For the upcoming conference, we are interested in discussing issues from diverse scholarly fields - humanities, arts as well as natural and social sciences - regarding both historical positions and contemporary inquiries. We will reflect topics such as: synaesthesia and the neurological discourse (memory and cognition; sensory perception); synaesthesia - between perception and subjectivity; synaesthesia and language; synaesthetic modalities (grapheme synaesthesia; synaesthesia of smell, taste, touch, sound and vision); synaesthesia in art and cultural history (in visual art, literature and film); synaesthesia and the digital world (synaesthesia in the 21st century).

The Synaesthesia-Conference is open to the public and free of charge - donations are very welcome.

Conference Concept: Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz, Art Laboratory Berlin

Realisation of Conference: The Art Laboratory Berlin Team: Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz, Olga Shmakova, Chiara Cartuccia, Chiara Massari, Anastasia Shavlokhova, Ashley Chang

Cooperation partners: Association of Neuroesthetics_Platform for Art and Neuroscience, fotoscout

Supported by: Schering Stiftung

Media Partner: art-in-berlin

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CONFERENCE PROGRAM:

FRIDAY, 5 July, 2013

(The exhibition "Translating, Correcting, Archiving" will be open from 9AM-8PM)

10:00
Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz (Art Laboratory Berlin)
Welcome and Introduction

Keynote / Moderator: Regine Rapp
Hinderk M. Emrich (Director of the Center for Psychological Medicine, Hannover)
"Synaesthesia, Synaisthesis and the Enhancement of Coherence"

11:30 // BREAK

11:45
Defining Synaesthesia // Moderator: Regine Rapp

Ditte Lyngkaer Pedersen (Artist, Århus)
"Why is Green a Red Word?"

Sina A. Trautmann-Lengsfeld (Dept. of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg)
"Multisensory Processing in Synaesthesia"

Larisa Prokofyeva (Dept. for Linguistics, Saratov State Medical University)
"Integrated Text Analysis with Phonosemantic Characteristic Consideration"

13:45 // LUNCH BREAK

14:45
Translating Synaesthesia // Moderator: Christian de Lutz

Polina Dimova (Institute for Russian and Comparative Literature, Oberlin College, Ohio)
"Synaesthesia at the Fin-de-Siècle: Art and Science"

Eva-Maria Bolz (Artist, Berlin)
"Der Innere Monitor"

James Rosenow (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
"Translated Modes of Poe-etic Synaesthesia in Early Amateur Cinema (Charles Klein's "The Telltale Heart" and J. Sibley Watson's "The Fall of the House of Usher")"

16:45 // COFFEE BREAK

17:15
Sound and Vision as Synaesthetic Phenomenon // Moderator: Chiara Cartuccia

Birgit Schneider (Institute for Arts and Media, University Potsdam)
"On Hearing Eyes and Seeing Ears. Berlin Optophonia in the 1920s."

David Strang (Artist, Plymouth)
"Transmission + Interference"

19:00 Reception at Art Laboratory Berlin

SATURDAY, 6 July, 2013

(The exhibition "Translating, Correcting, Archiving" will be open from 9AM-8PM)

10:00
Synaesthetic Sensations in Cultural History, Film and the Visual Arts // Moderator: Regine Rapp

Eva Kimminich (Institute for Romance Languages, University Potsdam)
"The Five Senses: From Cooperation up to Specialization. Observations on a Historical Development in the Occident"

Caro Verbeek (Royal Academy of Arts Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam)
"Inhaling History of Art - On the Role of Olfaction during the Avant-Garde"

Gertrud Koch (Institute for Film Studies, Free University Berlin)
"Word and Object in Film - a Synaesthetic Presentation"

12:30 // LUNCH BREAK

14:00
Synaesthetic Laboratories of Art & Science // Moderator: Olga Shmakova

Sabine Flach (Dept. of Fine Arts and Dept. of Art History, School of Visual Arts, New York City)
"Laboratory of Senses - James Turrell"

Madi Boyd (Artist, London)
"The Point of Perception - On Collaborations Between Artists and Neuroscientists"

Agnieszka Janik (Dept. of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London)
"Synaesthesia for Colour is Linked to Reduced Motion Perception"

16:00 // COFFEE BREAK

16:30
Synaesthesia and the 21st Century // Moderator: Christian de Lutz

Katharina Gsöllpointner/ Romana Schuler (Media Arts/ Art History, University of Applied Arts, Vienna)
"Digital Synaesthesia - Introduction into a New Project"

Romi Mikulinsky (Macquarie University, Sidney/ Bezalel Academy for Arts and Design, Jerusalem)
"From Page to Screen - The Presence and Future of Reading"

18:00
Final Discussion

Current exhibition at Art Laboratory Berlin:

Synaesthesia/4: Translating, Correcting, Archiving
Eva-Maria Bolz / Ditte Lyngkaer Pedersen / Andy Holtin

Fri — Sun, 2 — 6 PM and by appointment
Extended opening hours on both conference days: 9 AM -8 PM

More information: http://artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-exh-archive.htm