Matt & his energy

MAPPING OF SENSORY EXPERIENCES

-PART 1-

*

-PART 2-

There are so many pieces of art/expression that come to mind that encompass heavy or unique and evocative sensory experiences for me. Film especially though has had a massive influence to my appreciation of extra-sensory material as it itself presents it content not only visually, but aurally and kinetically also. It is an ideal medium to explore synaesthetic or even hyper-real experiences i.e scenarios or concepts that break the boundaries of reality as we know(or even perceive) it. Some things come to mind immediately such as “Bladerunner”, where ‘replicants’, robotic humans so real they are virtually undetectable challenge our own perceptions of what it means to exist. Other films like ‘Donnie Darko’ or even the more commercial ‘Matrix’ films explore the possibilities of an alternate reality guised by how we perceive our environment through our senses, and also the omnipresent notion of ‘something else’ being out there than just the tangible world as we know it..
The film that had the greatest effect on me though is a relatively unknown, ‘animated’ (in the traditional sense) film called “Waking Life”

This film doesn’t directly relate to my sensory experience, but at the same time has many parallels as to how both entities,(the film and the experience) are absorbed by me. Its relevance lies in both its presentation and content. The film was created using a method called rotoscoping, where real images are first filmed, then literally painted in later, thus allowing a creative freedom in their translation, and in a sense, in itself representing a synergy of two totally different visual artforms creating the one end result. A very possible synaesthetic medium. As well as looking like a moving painting, the actual conversations, topics and ideals are represented as movement, shape and colour directly related to the scene and content, again being achievable through the choice of presentation, and once again heightening the whole piece’s synaesthetic attributes.

-PART 3-

An object that has always carried a rich sensory experience is an old book. Something probably over a hundred years old or more generally suffices and its content is not necessarily important but can also be intrinsic to the richness and multifacetedness of the stimuli.
Ive always had this dream about going to an ancient library, like say the Vatican library and just being lost in the sea of awe and inspiration, gravity of how sacred and historically important old, original texts are, the energy they hold, the aroma when you open them almost letting out an air of wisdom that they have carried through the ages within their covers. When you smell the old book odour as you open the text, it olfactorily informs you that you are reading or just generally experiencing something incredibly important or profound. The smell of an old, old book also takes you to another time and place, another era, not unlike the implied significance of Marcel DuChamp’s “Air de Paris 1919”.

MAPPINGOFSENSORYEXPERIENCES
PHASEONE

Passenger of Shit - Floating with my Poo[wank 001 (br-03)]

PARTONE
My sensory experience in based upon an interest in electronic music/sound/noise.
An ordinary night out in the square surface rainforest turned into a extra-ordinary electrotronic 6 sensory wide experience. It started out relatively similar to any other night out with a suggested sound pressure cube to experience with some humans that I know. We met up at Jono house and exchanged data information for a while, our consciousness becomes glazed and slightly internalised as it becomes harder to comprehend life after some Delta-9. Our brains are working harder to function with a new chemical balance and a new perceived environment; in turn our senses are heightened. The sonic environment exists deeper into an unfamiliar space and presence, tactile experience lasts longer and it feels as if the solid pavement is slightly compressed under my body weight. As I look around a new world is appearing where non visible space is occupied, light reflects under a new exponential formula.
I have arrived at the sound cube where strange things are happening.
We understand the next human is turning on his central processing unit; meanwhile a group of humans in front of us is exchanging energy through concentrated surfaces. Our bodies, already unbalanced, are flushed with new chemicals which intensify our sensorium. We know now this environment threatens our evolution as a human being.
The noise data begins, so intensely compressed and condensed into electronic digital pyramids forced against our eardrums pain flows throughout our brain as it feels as though someone is cutting away the inside of your mind with mathematics. Instantaneously the human condition searches for answers as a 255BPM barrage of sonic forces strike throughout your body mass. I experienced anaesthesia of the olfactory and gustatory senses as the auditory, visual and tactile senses dominate the field of experience purely for survival reasons, then the next second of music.

Spore - white noise

PARTTWO
For the second part of this investigation i have chosen to select a personal interpretation of art manifest in white noise on a television. Appropriation of an object or experience as art aside, I would like relate the electronic experience mentioned in phase one to the common experience of white noise on a television. I relate the two purely for the fact of the absolute human attraction to the noise. The two become very similar when talked about in the context of attraction. We have evolved to be ultimately aware of our surroundings however subconscious the awareness may become, sudden changes from our normal surroundings instantly affect our awareness and focus the appropriate senses to regain control of our environment. The supporting experience from white noise on the television is the half a second of confusion and anaesthesis of the non vital senses. This is exactly the experience of experimental electronic sound/noise.

PARTTHREE
The final part of the sensory experience investigation I would like to relate to the initial part one.
The object I tried to find was a glass or crystal pyramid, they are hard to find. Often many sounds are directly related to shapes/environments by the listener. We can specifically describe the surroundings created in our minds by the type of music we have listened to. Hearing low slung gritty electronic bass often conjures images of a square chrome creature lurching through a misty swamp in a world where sorcerers in white gowns cast magic upon insurgent army from cryptania. The fast pulsing highly compressed electronic triangle wave sounds I heard on that night can only be likened to a pure crystal pyramid elegant in their composition and sharp at all points but full at the same time.

AUSTINHALL

frank's delicious wax

phase one
MAPPING OF SENSORY EXPERIENCES

part one
first investigation




my experience is releated to the interaction of our sences during the process of being close
and partly exposed to the elements, beauty and power of nature.
it is a storry about surfing, in fact about two special moments in a surfing day.

the first is about something like a meditation before even touching the water,
and what does a piece of surf wax have to do with that.
the second is all about being in the water and the moment the body changes the element
he is surounded from air to water and back to air again by diving through an ocean wave.


surf wax

there are certainly a few situations full of intense sensory experiences during a day
at the beach and in the water.
most of the surfers love to talk about epic waves and how it feels to drop into the steep wall
of such a beautiful beast and about the colours in the barrel, how the adrenalin rush
makes you feel that every thing almost holds still,
and that the spit in the inside of a big one bites like one-thousand needels to your skin.

one of the first things that comes to my head if someone asks me about surfing
is the speciffic smell of that surfing wax called "Mr. Zog's Sex Wax".
maybe this is caused by the fact that i had never been in the inside of such huge blue green barrel in a standing position till now.
anyway, ..as soon as i get this smell to my nose
i find myself imaging the beach, almost feeling the ocean breeze on my skin and the sand between my toes.

i guess it it is more than six years ago i first got my hands on this sort of a wax.
i traveld to the french coast to finaly try out what i had been dreaming of
since i first saw the drawings of hawaiian surfers in a book my aunt gave me when i was a kid.
waveriding or surfing.
not such an special and uncommon thing to do for someone who grew up and lives in australia
or close to the ocean and it's waves.
for me, born in the middle of europe, in the eastern part of germany, behind a wall that was 'just trying to protect', by keeping people inside with don't travel, don't move, don't think different rules.. and almost two-thousand kilometers away from the atlantic ocean shore, ..it was.

but the wall broke down in 1989 and finally, like all the others, i found myself free..
at least to travel. it took more than ten years again to get rid of some other walls, not built
by a government but still high enough to hold me, but not for good.
and so finalyl i found me, myself and one of my best friends parked an old peugeot in front of a french surfshop renting these monster beginners' nine foot longboards.
"..and hey guys, you will need some of that to get it on ya sticks.."
the owner said while grinning as if he was one hell of a joke master, before he put two pieces of good old Mister Zogs on top of it.
i awnserd that i would carefully put it on the base of my board so that it may slide well in the water to bring that old joke to an end, and we left.

the boards fit into the car; the front tip touching the front window to the back tip touching the back window.
still with the old wax on their surface it took just a few moments to the hot summerair in the car to push the wax to free; its smell all around us.
it was that sweet coconut -tropical-delicious smell. that inexplicable surfwax smell I had already heard and read about so much.
i always wondered how it would smell and now i was in the middle of it, mixed with some sweet french summer breeze.
sort of drunk and high, happy to be alive, happy to be with this totaly crazy dude next to me.
ready to go and start what i was waiting for so long, fighting for so hard, already expecting this smell, to become one of the most beloved in my live, next to one ore two others always able to catch me and change my mood from one second to the other.
i remember us just sitting there and smiling and breathing and silently enjoing the feeling of being young and at the start of a hot and never-ending summer. two discoverers of a smell called surfing.

..years later, on a fresh beautiful grey-blue morning at a little wooden cabin on top of the exmouth beach, western australia around seven a.m.,
i find myself putting wax on my board.wondering what surfing brought to my life..
one hand touches and holds it and feels the little vibrations going through its body, caused by the other hand that with a constant smooth circling motion brings the little bumbs on top of it.
the way my hand and my arm moves to put it on, always calms me down before finally go out in the water.
i started to see it as something like an meditation, trying to bring my self down to earth, to realise that every moment here at the beach is special.
i try to leave all my other thoughts, all the people at the beach, just to put everything behind me and just to be in the moment. grounded with my feet in the sand.
i start to breath deeper and slower and prepare myself to go out and surf and change my fear into a good kind of respect.
i start to realise the colours and the sound of the shore more intense.
i look out to the waves and try to find the channel and the best spot to go to before i close my eyes for a second.
and there goes that smell again...and i remember that car in france and that dude..

i always try to seal my wax in a little zipper plastic bag to keep it clean
and hold as much of it's aroma as possible.
but there is still nothing like opening up a new piece and start rubbing it over the board.
i'm quiet sure that the pressure and the temperature during this process
are an important element to get this unique smell into the air, much more intensive
than the wax smells for it self.
and so is touch and smell together in this experience. the interesting thing about touching it is that it changes it surface and its consistency under pressure and temperature from slick and hard to soft and almost sticky. ...but this is another story.

i have learnd a lot since that day in france. and i have tried a lot.
i figuered out that mr. zogs is not always the best choice when it goes down to the function.
than i started to use other ones. they come with smells as well.
cause they learned about the big advantage for their business,
to put aromas into the basic wax that actualy not very intense or delicious smelling.
so all the brands come with their own shapes, sexy-wild product graphics,"do not eat or chew" prints, names and last but not least, smells.
it goes from vanilla and banana to strawberry and so on. and they are all good,
but you know, .. it is not the same to me.

today i usually have different brands of wax with me. one is good as an base coat, another is best in cold water..
but back at the city streets and its asphalt topped earth i always carry a piece of mr. zogs in one of my bags with me.
i absolutely know that this quite a childish thing to do, but show me a real grown up..
and actually the thought of having it some where close to me keeps me smiling when i find myself in the middle of this big noisy, stress making machine...

and i can hear the smell, ".. take a deep breath.. and toes in the sand"

the second story is about a chain of sensory impressions that i experienced by duckdiving a surfboard through a wave.
the intention of this is to paddle out on the ocean into the line up, which is the spot behind where the waves are breaking.
on the way out to this point the surfer, if he isn't interested to get washed back to the beach
(or worse) has to dive through incomming waves in most of the cases.
some times that means, no duckdive no surf!
how often, how deep and for how long a surfer has to do this depends on the spot and the waves.
one of the first sensory impressions the surfer gets through this is how small and unimportant a human being is and how powerful nature is.
completly under water, the body, and all the sensors in the skin are not longer in touch with the usual surounding element.
everything feels different.sounds, colours,changes of temperature, and even our ability to move. we are forced to hold our breath, to see and hear through water. all our sences are in a totaly different situation than they are used to, even our sense of balance and gravity is different.

the more i think about this, the more i realise it's direct connection to our synaesthesia project.
to swim is one thing, to dive is the next step. to dive in a pool or lake into the deep or just as far as possible are for sure intense experiences.
to dive with a surfboard underneath a powerfull moving mass of water is even more intense.
there is an incredilel awareness of the present, action and consequence follow one another so closely that you realise what your senses are good for - to survive and orient yourself. and secondly to enjoy.
the board pushed under the water changes into a sort of an responding medium.
it helps you to get an understanding of how deep you've pushed it under water
and how strong the current is.
by holding and pushing it tight under water with your hands and your knee it even lets you know if scratching the surface of the ground.
and finally, its volume helps you spring up with enough speed and power at the back of the wave.

to stop diving in a lake because you are out of breath is all right (except some crazy mafia gangsters are hunting you, and you tried to hide in this lake), to stop diving because of what ever reason before the wave passes can cause serious trouble.
as a reaction to all of these factors, the body seems to sharpen up all senses.
and so what is supposed to assure our survival in the first place, becomes the source of a very intense sensory and EMOTIONAL experience as well.
vision, touch, smell, sound and taste come together in a very special way.
one important thing to mention about this is that it is very important not to close your eyes under water.
..except if you are just to cool and bored of everything because you already did it a million times.
to express and describe such an experience is always a difficult thing to do.
how things feel, taste and sounds to a person is always a unique feeling that can't be equated to a common sense.
so i think the best thing would be to go out und just try it, if you haven't done it yet.
i decided to put some pictures i took and made from movies as a sort of a moodsheet on the blog
to give a little visual idea. but still it is nothing in comparison.
lastly, i've interviewed myself...

duckdive
where?
exmouth western australia

when?
the first week of july
shortly before sunset

what could you feel?
non emotional, a cool offshore wind
the still warm sand as i walked to the shore,
the water warm enough to feel free without a wetsuit
my wet hair on my cheeks, my lips,schoulders and my upper back
the water lapping against my chest
the last warm rays of the sun in my face
the saltwater in my eyes
the leash around my ankle
the board underneath my body
the currents in the water with changing temperatures
my puls, my muscels, my skin a little freezing
a bit of wax underneath my fingernails
the water surounding me more and more like slipping into a liquid suit and out again
the energy and speed of the wave i'm dived through
the waterdrops the offshore wind blows from the lip of the breaking wave
i just dived through; falling on my head, my face, my back and chest..

what could you see?
the sun as a fire-red ball that colored the horizon from a cool blue over a violet to an warm orange
a view of the clouds all a part of that amazing color changing sky that moved from its blue hour
to something in between bright and dark
the waves and the whitewater that reflected it all
other surfers
a dark blue almost black for a moment of a second as i started to dive
the dark and bright blue, cyan and light green mixed spots of water during the first moments of the dive,
later on the white boiling bubles and stuctures of the breacking water over me,
already a little note of orange in it
the reef underneath my board with its softend shadows, something between dark green, brown grey and black
all the colors did just constantly changed
until the last second when the water cleared up at the back of the wave short before i sprung up again, a melting wonderfull orange red warm ball
coverd by the last waterlayers of the wave like a strange vision of the sun
like diving up into a melting sun
for a second a rainbow in the spit of the offshore breez
some doves

what could you hear?
some doves
the rhythm of the breaking of the waves
the wind
my pulse, my breath, my last deep breathe before the dive
the wave that rolled over me
my board and me sniping out the back of the wave
the waterdrops the offshore wind blowed from the lip of the breaking wave behind me
falling on me and dropping in the ocean
someone shouting to his mate to paddel into a wave
the sound of all these waves breaking over the reef

what could you taste?
a little fear on my tongue
the salty water on my lips

what could you smell?
the ocean
sunscreen
surfwax

part two

as an an artistic work which relates the experience of an intense smell i chose and
recomend the book "the perfume" from Patrick Süskind, a german born author.
the plot is all about smell and smells in the streets and alleys of eighteenth century france.
writen in an intense and fascinating way, "..with wit, a gothic imagination
and considerable originality" Süskind tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a small ugly boy, born underneath a table in the middle of a fishmarket, denied by its mother and most importantly, born with the finest nose in paris, france, and most likely in the world, but without an own bodyodour.
through the whole story we see Grenouile trying to produce the ultimate perfume-made out of the smell of virgins he murders shortly before they loose them smell of their innoncence and purity to the development of heir bodies for ever.
a perfume to protect his nose from the disgusting smells he is surounded by,
and give him at least a smell that people will recognice him and maybe love.

as an artistic work relating to the story about surfing and duckdiving i chose
an image from Antony Gormleys Foto "Land,Sea and Air II" from 1982
and the classic masterpiece by caspar david friedrich " Monk and Sea" from 1809/10 as well.

both deliver the information of power and size of nature and its elements, as they also show how close we are conected to them, how muchwe adore, love and are based on them. finaly how much we find our selfs in them. in a way they recall the evolutionary theory of all life once came out of the ocean.

all the other images shown are pictures i made by myself or found online ore took out of the surfmovie " a broke down melody".
i hope they transport a little what i was talking about.
the moodsheets also showing images of of the cd-cover of the soundtrack from jack johnsons surf movie "thicker than water"...

part three

as an object i chose a piece of "mr. zog's surfwax", which is related to part one. the picture shows the old piece i use to carry with me and some fresher looking ones as well.

Nirmal Kumar Menon

Three weeks ago while I was in Singapore, me and a few friends decided to have a bike ride to an area we haven’t been to before on bike. Living near Katong we used to follow the water line and head East well passed the airport because it was an area we were all familiar with.

This time we took a very haphazard path on the roads towards the world trade centre. There was no direct line to get there because it was connected by a series of expressways; we had to by law stick on normal roads. Missing a few turns and just guessing towards the end the whole round trip took us around 5 hours.

So as we headed back home I decided to take a detour and go by the beach. The sun was beginning to set and I decided it would be a good place for a pit stop. Having passed my friends places already I parked my solitary bike one the wave breaker and headed down. The beach for once was not full of people as it usually was, instead it was next to deserted. The only sound was those of the waves crashing on the breakers and sand. All I could see ahead of me were silhouettes of ships far off in the distance against an orange sky.

The tide was comming into a high tide as I approached the scene, covering the usual smell of decaying fish on this side of the beach, it was replaced by a pleasant light salty aroma. It was the perfect sunset often seen in movies, only this was real and i was there as it happened. I didn’t feel like leaving until 20 minutes later and I still looked back as I left.

Noel M Macale Photography

I chose this photograph because it is pretty much the exact spot i stopped at. Its the same part of the beach but facing away from the wave breaker. I recognised the tree as well, Its almost as if the photographer was standing next to me and took a photograph.

Hugo Boss, Boss in motion
was my chosen artifact. I chose it because of its interesting shape and the fact that the surface gets cold really easiely and still shocks me occasionally in the morning when i reach out for it. Its also a scent that i like because while it is musky there is a slight spice to it as well

Lauren - scissors, an implement to create

EXPERIENCE: RECEIVING A HAIR CUT

- Sound of the scissors clashing together

- Feeling of your hair being cut

- Visual; self image

- Emotion, trust

- Can either be positive where every cut is another step towards a vibrant new you OR every cut you kind of cringe

- Seeing your hair laying on the floor

- Running fingers through the new length of the hair

- Tactile profession which uses the hands and fingers to decipher hair type and style

ARTWORK: EMPIRE RECORDS

This story traces a single tumultuous day in the lives of several young slackers who work at a bustling store named Empire Records. Anything can happen and everything does--relationships are tested and dilemmas are solved.

Introducing Deb: Unhappy, misunderstood, slightly off-balance. Yet loyal and selfless, with a sense of humour (although slightly morbid).

She walks into the dark restroom and shaves her head spontaneously upon arriving at work one morning. Stands in front of the mirror, picks up a pair of scissors and proceeds to calmly hold up a giant chunk of hair and cuts it as it then falls to the floor in one feathery mass.

She is making a statement re: her Mental Anguish by stylizing her hair in a fashion guaranteed to make the general public stare and gaze in awe, in appreciation and possibly, gasp!

Its also a need to simplify her life, and make radical change to her self as a boost to her self-esteem, or possibly to blow off steam. After the use of the electric razor also and this seriously serious girl, then parades about the record store with her new buzz cut, daring everyone with her seriously serious eyes to make one scathing, one questioning, one antagonistic remark because this one, she will cut you.

http://birdsovafeather.blogspot.com/2006/06/theres-scene-in-empire-records-where.html

OBJECT: SCISSORS

- Implement to create

- Can cause damage a work of art

- Cut: paper, cardboard, metal foil, plastic, food, cloth, rope wire, hair and nails.

- Shape

- Threaten, Injure or kill

- Not symmetrical therefore left handed will require left handed scissors

- Cutting out fabric, the feeling of their weight in my hand before the first cut.

- Hairdressing- a profession using mostly tactile and visual senses. Use of the hands to feel the length and make the right type of cut.

- An awesome sound scape in Edward Scissorhands- the sounds of an artist at work on a black screen eventually to reveal a crazy piece of work.

Jacqueline Lin

Phase .1 Mapping of sensory experiences

4D SHREK ^_^

1st investigation:
My first 4D movie ‘Shrek 4D Adventure’ was a rich sensory experience. This mini movie was projected through 2 high resolution digital projectors, and utilizes uncompressed digital video servers in a custom configuration to create this stunning 3D film. I was given a specially designed 3D glasses which it helped to give a maximum peripheral vision. It felt like as if I was being part of the movie and surrounded by the characters. The uniquely designed seats were equipped with some special effects, which included vertical drops and horizontal movements. This was when the 4D came in, and I could not only see, hear, but also FEEL the action right from my seat. They also have other effects such as blowing water and air at me and it happened that I tasted a drop of water and smelt smoky air coming from the seat that was in front of me. The surrounded sound system was so amazing that it made me feel as if the characters were talking next to me. The package with the “Shrek 4D Adventure” mini movie had transported me into the virtual 3D environment.

2nd investigation:

Allegory of the Five Senses
Artist: Theodore Rombouts

I chose this art piece because it has five senses from left to right, sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell, which are represented by figures and attributes set in a lively and colourful composition. It relates to my 1st investigation which I had experienced five senses during the 4D Shrek movie with lively characters and colourful pictures.

3rd investigation:

i chose this object simply because I love the fruity smell of them, and the colours are very attractive. i don't really use these highlighters but sometimes i just can't stop myself picking them up and smell them. sometimes when i'm bored i would arrange them in different order and just play around with it! ^_^ they are more like a toy to me than highlighters!

Damien's Sensory Wonderland

Being in love is like eating something with many different tastes; it can be sweet, it can be bitter, sour, salty, spicy. Whereas without love, things can only be tasteless. I tasted love, just last week. Its not often that I do. As a child I could only enjoy the powerful aroma, but the taste was far too much for my delicate tongue. I knew just by smelling it, that it was perfect. But every time i got too close, i felt pain and a shortness of breath. I knew too well not to hurt myself like that again. Such a decision could be compared to self inflicted wounds, as my baby soft, then healthy throat could not handle the power of chilli. I knew, just by smelling the damn stuff that it was the taste i have been searching for comprehensively through obscure sauces and herbs.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning



I felt the love. It took some time, however. I have found that when i experience something good, and it makes me feel good instantly, and i like it the second i taste it; that euphoric feeling tends to die fast. It's the acquired taste that i most appreciate. I have invested my time to knowing and understanding what it is that i like about it. I have learned to love the flavour. Although it still burns my tongue, it hurts so bloody good i can't get enough of it. I affectionately call chilli, Cocaine. It boosts my ego and makes me feel sexy. Do you want to fight me? No thanks i just ate.

The flame that shines the brightest also burns out the quickest.

So why dont I just chill out, and prolong this sensation? Because I would have to be insane not to love chilli, the smell, the burn, mix with lime and all its bingle bangle sensation. I cant pour sauce on everything all the time though, its ridiculous.

This is how I get my fix when im on the road. Its burning, tangy, and it comes it a sealed packet. Its crunchy, even. Loving.

Juliet

experience one:

A memory which now i realize was a synaesthesic experience was the first time i ever saw a birds nest. I remember my father hitching me high up on his shoulders. From memory I was confused and a little bedazzled at this 'specimen' known as a 'birds nest'. It was not bowl shaped; nor orange, as i had seen in 'Meg the witch' books.
The smell came to me in a abunance of warmth; like the down in my grandmothers handmade dogs bedding. The smell kept me safe... towering far beyond my well adjusted height. The baby birds; so fragile... i wanted to pick one up, nurse it softly until she stopped her weeping and place it back, but her tiny frame, her wings and neck far to fragile for anyone to find a point of stength. The noises which escaped the tiny birds beaks were almost like a heavy metal band dubed over a silent night solo on a candle lit dinner. An orchastra so loud, piercing....vivid baby birdy tweets.

experience two: The sound of a word or name which is not supported by any associated image

object: Peace (rose)

The Peace rose is the most famous rose. It is a Hybrid Tea rose with very large flowers and a light yellow to cream colour. It was developed by French horticulturist Francis Meilland in the years 1935 to 1939. When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France he sent cuttings to friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and the United States to protect the new rose. The name "Peace" is a trade name; its formal cultivar name is Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'. It was given the name Peace on 29 April 1945 in the United States. This was the very day that Berlin fell, officially considered the end of the Second World War in Europe. Later that year Peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, each with a note that read "We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".when experiencing the peace rose with knowledge of it background we appreciate its senses in a singular form. As ‘flowery’ as it may sound, close your eyes when you next examine a rose,, see its touch , taste its smell . The combination of the sences though the examination of a rose brings a multitude of emotional links and feelings. the peace rose does exactly what its name suggests; warm colours, a calming scent and a touch of peace.

example- sound:

Hendrix chord
The Hendrix Chord is a name commonly used to refer to the Augmented 9th Chord (7#9). The chord acquired this name as it was something of a signature chord used by guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Some examples of Jimi Hendrix songs in which the chord is used are "Purple Haze" and "Foxy Lady," from his 1967 album Are You Experienced?. As Jimi was a synaesthete, he saw this chord as a 'purple haze'; thus it is played under the word 'purple' in the song. It has, in fact, been asserted that the song was written about the chord.

Laura Phase 1

I found it very difficult to think of something to write about. An experience rich in sensory information. It really shouldn’t be that hard, we use our senses constantly. They are never turned off. But I have still for some reason had difficulty pin pointing a specific experience.

What I have eventually come up with has many of the senses involved. The experience of riding a motorbike.

Growing up my Dad would go off every so often on a Sunday afternoon with his friends for a bike ride. I never got to go with him coz my Mum said it was too dangerous. I always thought it looked so much fun, I asked every time to go but was never allowed. Until one day in the September of my final year of school. I was given permission to ride with my Dad.

It was a beautiful Spring day, warm and fresh. The bike was uncovered with a swoosh of the silver cover. The bike gleamed in perfection. Breaks polished to a chrome shine, the body white, blue and red buffed clean. My Dad wheeled it out of the dark cold garage where it had been sitting, waiting to be set free like an animal in a cage for month now.

With the specific sound of the Suzuki engine, the high pitched first ticks as it tries to start and then the low thundering sound when it pulled through, the pike started, roaring away.

I pulled on my leather gloves, that were too short in the finger length, and my helmet, that was so old it scratched my face and stung when I put it on. The helmet muffled the noise of the bike a lot, it made it sound like I had cotton wool in my ears and that everything was further away than it actually was. Before we took off my Dad turned to me and yelled to me, I could barely hear it but he said ‘Hold on tight and remember to lean with the bike.’ At that I hopped on the back of the bike and we were away, down the street, twisting and turning and then eventually onto the freeway and the open road.

Although it was a warm day being on the back of the bike was freezing. Going to fast we split through the air, pushing it around us, making it move out of our way and it bit back making me so cold it stang wherever skin was bare.

We eventually got to some road where we were surrounded by bush. The sunlight streaming through the trees was so beautiful. It took my breath away. When the shadows passed over me it was instantly even colder and I clung to my father even tighter trying to keep my precious warmth, we would then burst back into the sunlight and get bathed in warmth for a split second before the feeling of the cold wind returned.

This last stretch of the road was also much more fun because it had more twists and turns. We raced around hair pin corners at top speeds leaning the bike over, I felt only inches from the ground. I felt like I was free, able to do anything.

Eventually we got to our destination, the Yarra Glen water resovoir, where we took in the view and the sun for a while before eventually leaving again for our high speed trip home.

jULeS PhaSe oNe

Phase 1:

Part I: Sewer riding expeditions

A short but confronting portion of my adolescent years has been spent on ridding, walking and climbing through sewers. At face value the experience is regard as unhygienic and dirty. Well most probably, it is.

Though entering an unknown world quietly in existence amongst the living, can free a person of the complications and deceit we function through.

The involvement of this experience for me is a manifestation of striving to be invisible. As from my childhood years I would venture to the darkest corners of my world where my visual sense was useless, although always trying to achieve the impossible [human capable night vision]. It was a curve of post reflective learning, where I’d never set out to have achieved sight through; sound and smell but somehow did. I soon identified that sight could very much be influenced by the other human sensorium particularly sound although practising this unknowingly in years gone by.

The expeditions through Sydney’s sewers seemed to be just as complex as their roads but had a new dimension of decent and smell. The sound passing through the dark dynasty consisted of vibrations and percussion noise overhead by vehicles, trains and building infrastructure. The feeling at times was confronting especially when the sensorium had nothing indicative to associate with but eventually caused a sense of discipline and calm that was re-enforced when I would return to the “normal” world.

To survive down there was to be comfortable not being in control accepting that you were at the mercy of your sense and that not knowing what came into contact with your face, ears or hands would not be your greatest discomfort but rather not knowing what direction you travelled from. Also experiencing the loss of vision and being drowned by fast, sharp and murderous sounds all familiar but yet vague, blanketed by the cold breeze and choked by heat pockets gave one the ability to be alive and see a new world.

The experience is somewhat disciplinary as you are forced to forego one set of senses to make way for another and then back again. The outcome of this ultimately leads to a mild revolution that presents to you what can be a life time question. What exactly am I experiencing?

Parts two and three can be viewd at my Blog

Part II: Reservoir Dogs a film by Quentin Tarantino

Part III: Object of Choice

where you can host your media

Putfile free hosting of video, audio, flash and images. You can upload without registering (although it's free to register)You can not hotlink.

Youtube up to 100mb/10 mins of video. Allows direct linking. Creates an automatic code to embed the video into the blog. simply copy it and paste it.

Photobucket free hosting of photos and video (Valid file types: avi, mov, mpeg, mp4, asf, wmv, divx, 3gp, qt, dv)
Free registration, 1gb storage, 10gb bandwidth.

Flickr for photos. Create a photo stream or slide show. Free account or go pro.

mei chua

1st investigation:

'the roller coaster experiece..never again"

It was the first time I had ever been on a roller coaster. I didn't have a fear of heights, in factI loved being high up in the air because views were always so breathtaking. However I hated the feeling of falling. If I had a list entitled 'the things I hate the most', falling would definitely be on that list.

I can't quite remember how old I was or what year I was in but I think it would have probable been in about year 5 or 6 (according to my dad). We went to movie world for the first time and I was really loving it, until my dad decided he wanted to ride on the roller coaster. Now I've alwyas known that I hated roller coasters, falling, any type of free fall at all. My dad on the other hand didn't really know this, so he asked me if I wanted to ride it with him because my brother was too short for the ride but I just made the requirement. My answer to him was no, but after a lot of persuading from him and my brother I ended up in the line for the roller coaster. He was excited, I was just nervous, you know the sick feeling you get in the bottom of your stomach when you're nervous and the feeling of having to go to the toilet. Now that day was a hot day and the queue was long and being so short I reached that perfect height of being just under the armpits of tall guys. (*great!*) So lucky me got to smell all the 'oh so beautiful' odours that were blowing my way with the gentle breeze. Thank goodness though, the line moved quite fast so the bad odours left quite quickly, but the problem now was that I was at the front of the line with my dad and oh my gosh was my heart beating fast! I didn'twant to go on this roller coaster! I wanted to turn back and weave myself through the crowds back to my mum! But, I didn't. So I joined my dad in one of the seats, it was already warm from the person before us. I was so scared, but yet excited at the same time, I didn't quite know what to think or do, then the big black cushion thing came over my head and held me in place so that I wouldn't fall out during the ride. (oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, this roller coaster, the frist one in my life, was a three loop ride, but because you went forwards then backwards on the ride you ended up doing the 6 loops!) Now a ride instructor came by to make sure we were all in safely and when he passed me and my dad he told us to take off our glasses so that it wouldn't fall off us while we were upside down. So during the ride I was pretty much blind, plus the cushion protection straps feaked me out! I felt like I was going to slip out from underneath it cuase I was so short! Then came the feeling of suffocation cause I felt like it was smothering me, even though the protection was sitting properly on me.

I don't know how long I was sitting there next to my dad in fear and with his hand holding mine, but I do remember my heart skipping a beat as the roller coaster made a jerky move to start the ride. We slowly moved forward and I thought it was ok. I'll make it through fine! This isn't scary at all.. but that was all wishful thinking because as soon as we started picking up speed to full maximum speed the wind was blowing into me! Oh my gosh! I can still feel that wind in my hair, on my face in my eyes and in my mouth! I felt like my skin was being stretched backwards and that I'd have hanging loose skin off my face! When I tried screaming to let out some fear nothing and I mean absolutely nothing came out because of the amount of air that was passing through me into my mouth and lungs! I decided it was safer to just close my mouth because that way I wouldn't feel like I was choking on air...if thats even possible, plus my mouth and throat were really dry. When I tried breathing through my nose I felt like i was being force fed air and I was just gulping it down painfully. My eyes were so dry from all the air going into them so I decided to close them too. Now all of this I was feeling as I went through the forward part of the ride. There was a part where we finally stopped but it was like a vertical direction kind of stop. It seemed so peaceful and I felt a lot better, but then the ride just started all over again except this time it was backwards! (*dear God!*) All I can remember was my hair blowing into my face and I could finally breath properly. After that I think i just prayed for the ride to end.

It all finally did end. The roller coaster started slowing down until we finally stopped. I was shaking when I brought up my hands to lift up the cushion around me. My legs were shaking as I went to stand up and walk off the ride. My dad loved it! All I can say now is that it was an experience and I got one thing from it, I was no longer hot from the sun but cooled from all the fear flashes and wind. On that day I swore to God that I'd never, ever ride another roller coaster in my life and to this very day I still haven't been on one...yet.


2nd investigation:


Artist: Misha Gordin from her 'shout' series.

This photo just shows the frustration of my experience - not being able to shout or open my eyes, being uncomfortable.


3rd investigation

Chose a zippo just cause i really love the sound of how it's handled, the sounds of when it being lit and how the flame burns. Overall I really enjoy the way a fire burns, its smell and the heat that is emitted from it.

Kelly Phase 1

I'm finding it difficult at the moment to upload images so in the mean time you can read what I have written below or visit my personal blog at http://digress-from-refuge.blogspot.com/


Phase i : Industrial Design Upper Pool Studio. Semester 2 2006.


Synaesthesia – Mapping of Sensory Experiences.
"Art does not render the visible, rather, it makes visible." - Paul Klee


Darkness, resonant darkness. Inability to see those who pass before or behind you. There’s a terrible smell that is unlike anything I’ve smelt before, where is it coming from? Did someone just touch my arm, blow in my ear or pass by in front of me? How do I get out of here?

Synaesthesia is an involuntary joining in which the real information of one sense is accompanied by a perception in another sense. In addition to being involuntary, this additional perception is regarded by the synaesthete as real, often outside the body, instead of imagined in the mind's eye. Passing through the darkness of a haunted house, its lack of visual stimulus intensifies other senses. Sound instills either the creation or amplification of movement and touch and the fear of being touched. It’s also common to believe that you can see things within this space that do not exist. It is the combinations of senses that suggest the most logical scenario and have you assume that you see someone pass behind you or run before you.

Upon entering there are of course the initial prejudices and expectations that coincide with any theme ride or attraction however the darkness, I believe, takes over and imbues a sense of insecurity. This insecurity leads to the want to turn back or grasp the person next to us. To feel something familiar or if you like, something we are able to ‘put a face to’.

Unable to grasp onto a single thing that may have been familiar to me on this instance, I was incredibly aware of the narrow hallways within this complex and unsure as to what was ahead. Sounds and at times smells created great apprehension.

‘Breathing Room’ by Patricia Piccinini is an interactive piece of work that encompasses moving images, vibration through panels in the floor and sound. It is a screen-based installation that looks at the idea of panic within contemporary society. The images used are of alien yet somewhat familiar objects. Three large screens show a fragment of a body, a stretch of breathing skin. It is recognizable yet not quite real. We see, hear and feel the rhythm of its breathing. It is huge but almost intimate, both enthralling and claustrophobic. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, the Breathing Room panics and we share that viscerally, through vibrations in the floor. The belief that they are breathing is simply up to the interpretation and recognition of the viewer as no where does it state this is so. Once again the trickery of the visual via other senses is apparent.

Behind the viewer are a number of small TV monitors, and heard before seen is the strange transgenetic animal that scurries from one to next. At first it might be frightening, like the sound of rats in the walls, but gradually it will start to seem almost ordinary. However, the animal never slows down long enough to have a good look at it. “Like the truth in contemporary culture it feels unreal, is strange to look at and moves quickly from one space to the next…. Like the little animal in the breathing room, we live within a space both expanded and contained.... It moves in and out of the light so quickly that it is hard to get a grasp on. Or else we see it as a fragment in so much detail that we cannot see how it fits into the whole. It is no wonder that we feel anxious, stressed, even a little panicked sometimes.”

Jimmy Leung

Phase .1 Mapping of sensory experiences

1st investigation:
As a cook at Pancake Parlour (Dandenong along Princess Highway), it’s extremely chaotic and frustrating where everything is going all at once at the same time, and situations are hard to keep up. Thus working as a cook at Pancake Parlour creates rich in sensory information/impressions such as sound, smell, touch and etc.

Sound Working in the kitchen area this is what I can hear:
- Waiters calling/yelling out cooks name indicating that dockets are in, in order to cook the customer’s food.
- Food being cook such as steaks, fish, cakes and etc. The sizzling sound.
- Drinks area, where you can hear the machines operating to make drinks.
- As your walking, the floor is extremely sticky as you can hear your own foot steps.
- Fans operating.
- Water taps running.
- Dishes, glasses being stacked up.
- Dish washer operating.
- The beeper being activated as the customer walks in the front door.
- Making the pancake mix, you can hear the sound of milk and flour coming together. Also the air bubbles being popped.

Touch Most of the times as a cook, I stand near the hot plate, this is what I feel:
- Heat.
- Spray of hot oil/butter.
- Coldness of the metal benches, freezer and fridge.
- Raw meat, fish coated with milk and bread crumbs.
- The texture of the crepes.
- Stickiness of the ice-cream scoops.

Smell The atmosphere can become overwhelming, this is what I smell:
- Stench of the bins and floor mats.
- Odor from my body, sweat.
- Food, pancake mix, oils.
- Mushroom sauce and Tabriz sauce (spaghetti sauce).
- Stench from the water from the sink and dish washer area.

2nd investigation:



Edward Munch
The scream 1893

During work, because it’s chaotic and frustrating at the same time, I feel like to scream. Also the color red and blue is clashing together indicating that sometimes I can be calm, however, when there is huge numbers of food being called at the same time, it can be hell.






3rd investigation:

This is a brain yoyo which contains ball bearings in order to provide longer spin as you play with it. As you’re playing with this yoyo, you can hear the sound of the ball bearings whilst it’s spinning, a screeching sound. While playing with it, the sound brings back old school memories.

Brittany Phase One

Phase one

PART ONE

Synaesthesia Phase one

Part one:
My sensory experience is that of being a child. I would venture out to the washing line and smell the freshly washed towels drying there.
The hanging towels engulfing me as the heady scent of fabric softner created a sense of comfort, protection and calmness.
Smell was the primary factor in the original experience, so I wanted to translate this into an auditory representation.
You can listen below.
The 30 second snippet is comprised of eight layers of sound.


SOUND RECAP: I used existing freeware mp3s (White noise, ambient hum, oscillating 30hz), with recordings straight to my computer (breathing), as well as a snippet of bjork 'All is full of love', Satie 'Nocturne V'.
Each of these sounds were representative of an aspect of the original experience.

PART TWO AND THREE