The phenomenon of synesthesia has something magical about it. But its magic is real. According to specialists, “hearing light” is the most common kind of synesthesia. Much rarer are other combinations, such as perceiving numbers as colours or place names as flavours—this occurs in 2–4% of the population. Some of us can hear what others can only see, or vice versa: they can give sounds an actual look. Scholars have long studied this phenomenon. The most striking thing is that synesthetic abilities may occur much more frequently than hitherto considered. According to specialists, one of the forms of synesthesia where someone is able to not only see but also hear a blinking light might concern around 20% of the population. 

The installation as accompanied by a free educational audioguide, explaining the phenomena of light and sound bands (fission of white light, sound harmonics) and synesthesia itself, to download and listen on your smartphone. This educational package also includes an artistic annex: a contemporary premiere of an audiovisual miniature authored by Paweł Hendrich and Tomasz Strojecki, within their personal cycle titled Audiovisions. This particular audiovision takes into account the needs and special audiovisual perception of a small child. 

The installation was prepared within the project Hear Light, See Sound. Focused on synesthesia, it will appear irregularly at the subsequent editions of Little Warsaw Autumn. 

Anna Kierkosz, Little Warsaw Autumn curator