Synaesthesia.
Discussing a Phenomenon in the Arts, Humanities and (Neuro-)science.

International Interdisciplinary Conference
5/ 6 July, 2013

As a theoretical addition to our ongoing exhibition series SYNAESTHESIA (October 2012 – July 2013/ http://artlaboratory-berlin.org/home_eng.htm), Art Laboratory Berlin plans 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 contributions from all scholarly fields – humanities, arts as well as natural and social sciences – regarding both historical positions and contemporary inquiries. We are interested in contributions from scholars on topics such as:

Synaesthesia and the neurological discourse (memory and cognition; manifold connections of sensory perception); Synaesthesia – between perception and subjectivity; Synaesthesia as a psycholinguistic phenomenon (Synaesthesia and language); Synaesthesia from a philosophical viewpoint; Synaesthetic modalities (Grapheme Synaesthesia; Synaesthesia of Smell, Taste, Touch, Music, Colour, Form); Synaesthesia in Art and Cultural History (in Visual Art, Literature, Film and Theatre / The phenomenon of multisensory perception); Synaesthesia and the digital world (the phenomenon of synaesthesia in the 21st Century).


Please send your abstract of your research proposal (max. 1-2 pages), with CV + email and postal address as a PDF document to rapp@artlaboratory-berlin.org // deadline: April 29, 2013.

Keynote speaker: Hinderk M. Emrich


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

Scientific partner: AoN-Platform for Art and Neuroscience

Location: Glaskasten, Prinzenallee 33 (next door of Art Laboratory Berlin)


The conference is to be considered as a theoretical addition to the ongoing synaesthesia-exhibitions of which several artists will also contribute to the conference. During the conference the guests will be able to study the 4th and last show of the synaesthesia-exhibition series – thus directly presenting the synergy between artistic and scholarly research.

See also our Sol LeWitt_Symposium, which took place in February 2011 in the Glaskasten-Theater.
http://artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-event-10.htm