Date: June 21st
Time: 7 – 9 PM
With: Jamie Ward and Christine Söffing
Location: De Brandweer
People with synesthesia experience the ordinary world in extraordinary ways. To some, each letter has its own distinct color; to others, images are directly related to taste, the sequence of numbers glide through space, or music is an animated spectacle. Scientists are struggling to find a good explanation for this mixing of the senses. This explanation may help for instance to discover in exploring ways in which blind people can be made to see again by using their other senses? In his research, Jamie Ward explores the workings of the synaesthetical mind and brain. Christine Söffing collects observations about synaesthesia and uses her own color-hearing-synesthesia and her color-scent synaesthesia for her work in experimental music and sound- and scent-installations.
Jamie Ward
Jamie Ward (1972) is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on synesthesia and his research methods draw on experimental psychology and human neuroscience. He has published over 40 scientific papers and several books, the latest The Frog who croaked blue focuses on synesthesia and the mixing of senses. In addition, he has contributed to the public understanding of science through numerous talks and media coverage in newspapers, radio and television, including documentaries produced by the Discovery Channel and BBC Horizon.
Christine Söffing
Christine Söffing (1964) is an artist and synaesthete, based in Neu-Ulm, Germany. She is the artistic consultant and coordinator of the center for music & art, Ulm university and heads the group “experimental music and art” (EMU-Ensemble), in Ulm University since 2010. Söffing is giving workshops on artistic techniques and is working as a museum educator. She is involved in art workshops with synesthesia in children and adults since 1992, gives educational classes about synaesthesia for teachers and kindergarden teachers, gives lectures and talks on synaesthesia-conferences, collects observations about synaesthesia and uses her own color-hearing-synesthesia and her color-scent synaesthesia for her work in experimental music and sound- and scent-installations.
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