Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0014402, Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:57:20 -0500

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Synaesthesia (and VN)
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[Sandy Klein sends a link to Virginia Hughes's illustrated profile of artist and synesthete Marcia Smilack, "The Most Beautiful Painting," which appeared in Seed Magazine on December 13, 2006. -- SES]

[. . .] Smilack belongs to the group of one to four percent of people worldwide with synesthesia, the neurological mixing of the senses. No two synesthetes have exactly the same perceptual experiences. Many perceive each number, letter of the alphabet, or day of the week as a different color. For others, sounds from the environment are always accompanied by moving geometric patterns in their "mind's eye."

Smilack has a rare form of synesthesia that involves all of her senses—the sound of one female voice looks like a thin, bending sheet of metal, and the sight of a certain fishing shack gives her a brief taste of Neapolitan ice cream—but her artistic leanings are shared by many other synesthetes. Scientists estimate that synesthesia is about seven times more common in poets, novelists, and artists than in the rest of the population. (Some of the most famous examples include artists David Hockney and Wassily Kandinsky and writer Vladimir Nabokov.)

http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/12/the_most_beautiful_painting_yo.php

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