Synaesthesia is a repository for my exploration of the relationship between imagery and sound design. Presented as a quadriptych (Grace, Solitude, Light and Dark), it is also a place to consider perceptions, emotions and responses to audio-visual stimuli. A personal playground, if you will.

Kindling

Semianówka, Poland
52.90443° N, 23.90970° E

The symphony begins slowly, tentatively - a testing of acoustics in this cathedral with no walls. My boots crunch out a rhythmic melody over beds of oak leaves and pine needles. The tempo is Allegro, fuelled by anticipation of the solitude stretching out over the days ahead. I am but a lone musician wandering into the forest’s expansive hollowness.

Transport

Chełmno Nad Ner, Poland
52.11437° N, 18.75201° E

Man is not himself only... He is all that he sees; all that flows to him from a thousand sources... He is the land, the lift of its mountain lines and the reach of its valleys.

Alfalfa

Chełmno Nad Ner, Poland
52.10983° N, 18.75312° E

Go as far as you dare in the heart of a lonely land, you cannot go so far that life and death are not before you.

Stones

Treblinka, Kosów Lacki, Poland
52.63091° N, 22.05182° E

The time had passed when each new day was bright, precious and unique: the future stood before us, grey and shapeless, like an impenetrable barrier. For us, history had stopped.

Primo Levi 

Ramp

Arrivals Platform, Sobibór, Poland
51.44592° N, 23.59668° E

I never escaped from Sobibor. I’m still there — in my dreams, in everything. My point of reference is always Sobibor.

Toivi Blatt

Repository

Paneriaia, Vilnius, Lithuania
54.62588° N, 25.16269° E

Dislocation. Surrounded by a thick cloak of sorrow. Apparitions. Blood. Cries. Why do I come here? To gather thoughts, pay respects and nourish hope.

Syren

Warszawa, 2034 (Concept)

As waters rise and liberties fall, a covert war rages in the shadows. One woman's shattered psyche holds a secret that could decide the fate of millions.

In a world where memories are weapons, who can be trusted when the mind itself becomes a battlefield?

Audio Explanation

The audio in Synaesthesia was, for the most part, created using Norns and SuperCollider.

Norns is a monophonic synthesiser created by Monome. It is known for its unique approach to sound design and user interaction. Norns runs on open-source software and offers a variety of synthesis engines, including FM, granular, and subtractive synthesis. 

SuperCollider is an open-source programming language for real-time audio synthesis and algorithmic composition. It offers a flexible and expressive environment for creating complex sound designs and musical structures.

As the project evolved, however, a wider range of audio sources and instruments were used including:

Teenage Engineering (OP-1 Field; OP-XY; TP-7; TX-6 & CM-15), Organelle M, Polyend Tracker, X-Synth, Borderlands and Tardigrain.