ghosts and monsters: technology and personality in contemporary music || from the margins of the...

From the Margins of the Periphery: Music and Technology at the Outskirts of the West: APersonal ViewAuthor(s): Ricardo AriasSource: Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 8, Ghosts and Monsters: Technology and Personality inContemporary Music (1998), pp. 49-54Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1513400 .

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ARTIST'S ARTICLE

From the Margins of the Periphery:

Music and Technology

at the Outskirts of the West-

A Personal View

Ricardo Arias

PRELUDE Western Man leaves his calling cards all over the world in the

form of Western-made or Western-inspired machinery.

-R. Murray Schafer [1]

To begin with, I will attempt to explain the problem of adopt- ing electronic musical technology in places away from the centers of production. I refer to these places as the "margins of the

periphery" with respect to "Western culture," meaning places that are now-after five centuries of European expansion-cul- turally Western, but have remained economically and politically marginal. My main concern is Latin America and particularly Colombia. Like most other aspects of Latin American and Colombian culture since the conquest began, music has been a multifaceted means of expression that combines many clashing cultural traits. Europe has, of course, exerted the strongest influence, imposing its instrumental "calling cards" along with its theories and models (in short, its ideology).

Unlike most past musical "calling cards" produced and dis- seminated by "Western culture" (e.g. the piano or the violin), electronic music "machinery" bears no immediately recogniz- able traces of the musical tradition that created it; it is, at first

glance, ideologically neutral. Not readily amenable to the continuation of nineteenth-century European music, electronic music paraphernalia has served as the main vehicle for the articulation of that creative impulse prompted early in this century by the mechanized world (first expressed by Luigi Russolo, Carlos Chavez, Julian Carrillo, Erik Satie, Henry Cowell, Kurt Schwitters, Edgar Varese, etc.). Technol-

ogy propitiates a fundamental rethinking of music and re-

hearing of sound [2], paving the way for a musical praxis that can be tailored specifically to any particular individual and social context while remaining almost free of any predeter- mined cultural traits.

ELECTRONIC MUSIC UNPLUGGED

Generally speaking, what sets the "machinery of sound mimesis" [3] apart from traditional musical instruments is that it leads to a style of music-making in which the methods and aesthetics are not intrinsically bound to the tradition that produced it. At its rawest, electronic music technology de- mands to be shaped and forces the musician to rethink mu-

ABSTRACT

The author discusses the sin- gular character of music technology as a product of Western culture and its potential in helping to understand and articulate fundamental changes in music and its ideological implications. He also comments briefly on the place of music technology at the "margins of the periphery," and hints at how

sic and to rehear sound from technology might be approached scratch: it needs to be ideolo- so as to confer it meaning and

context at such junctures. Finally, gized. The various traditions of the author sketches a history of electronic music involve uses of music and technology in Colombia the machinery that imbue it with and offers a glimpse at the role

specific musical ideologies. This technology has played in his own music.

apparent state of potentiality might stem from the fact that electronic music has, since its in-

ception, been the result of misusing equipment originally in- tended for other purposes-magnetophones, oscillators, os-

cilloscopes, turntables, computers, etc. As Agostino Di Scipio has noted, those electronic instruments that were designed specifically as musical, such as the theremin or the ondes martenot, have had a very marginal musical impact [4]. By using the "wrong" tools to make music, one is easily bound to

step outside and beyond convention into areas where the re-

thinking of music and rehearing of sound mentioned earlier are not only suitable but imperative.

The profound methodological and aesthetic implications of

technology transcend the very utilization of technical contriv- ances. Technology has thus informed not only the music it

helps produce but also-and most importantly-music that

gets expressed almost entirely without it-through the use of

any sound source, even traditional musical instruments. I would call this latter type "electronic music unplugged." Many examples come to mind, but I will mention only three. The first two, Annea Lockwood's Glass Concert and the Concierto

para Papel (Paper concert) by the Spanish group Taller de Musica Mundana, treat everyday materials (glass and paper, respectively) as instruments and apply to their playing the

type of refined hearing and attention to detail made possible only by the advent of sound recording and playback. In some awkward kind of way, these musicians are making musique concrete without the aid of recording technology: in other words, had the musicians not been previously exposed to musique concrete, these two pieces would probably have not even been imagined. Furthermore, they exhibit an expanded awareness of sound, one that does not focus its manipulation exclusively within a limited set of parameters (pitch and dura-

Ricardo Arias (musician), 406 Clinton Ave., Apt. 1, Brooklyn, NY 11238, U.S.A. E-mail: <[email protected]>.

LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL, Vol. 8, pp. 49-54, 1998 49 O 1999 ISAST



tion to the detriment of space and tim- bre, for example). Another less obvious manifestation of technology in a non-

technological realm can be found in the saxophone technique developed by En-

glish improviser Evan Parker. In his analysis of Parker's music, John Corbett makes the following analogy:

In certain respects Parker's work re- sembles early electronic music in that it has to do with interruption, with taking one system and using another inter- rupting system to create something new [5].

With the idea of unplugged electronic music in mind, I want to refer to the many levels at which the workings of

technology can be traced and show that such traces are likely to take whatever shape the musician wishes to confer on them.

PARADIGM LOST Electronic music technology unveils and favors-indeed, is itself a result of-an ongoing and profound change in West- ern culture. This change concerns not only the technical and aesthetic aspects of music, but also the social assumptions of musical practice. I have mentioned some technical reevaluations prompted by technology, and as an illustration of the oblique ways in which it can work I

pointed to "electronic music unplugged." The return to the composer- performer in the technologically in- clined sectors of so-called "serious music" (electroacoustic music in all its historical phases) and the influence exerted by some popular musics point to-

ward a more communal, less clearly hierarchical relationship among musicians. In Western music this dissolution of the distinction between composer and performer and emphasis on collective, non- hierarchical practices finds an extreme manifestation in "free improvisation." In the words of percussionist Eddie Prevost, "Performing in a free improvisation is no mere cipher for a new kind of human relationship-it is that relationship" [6].

Generally speaking, technology effec-

tively favors what Prevost calls an "inves- tigative ethos" [7] and exposes realms detached from any a priori musical paradigm. In my view, it is in this frame of mind and at this juncture, where music can be infused with a particular ideology, that it becomes possible to "open technology up" or transcend it, and turn it fully to our own advantage-some- times even by discarding it altogether.

THE MACHINERY OF SOUND MIMESIS

The point is not whether to use technology or to reject it. However, if we decide to use it, particularly in places or from positions removed from the centers of

technological production, we must seek to adapt it rather than merely adopt it. Some approach strategies that seem per- tinent to me in this respect include in- terference, translation, decomposition, recycling, reinvention, subversion, exor- cism and demystification.

In other words, one should seek to pursue and further the bricolage tradition and establish a critical and dialecti-

Fig. 1. The author plays a hand-held balloon as elastic aerophone, produc- ing a pitched screech. (Photo: Khari Romero)

cal relationship between musical concerns and technical means.

BRIEF THOUGHTS ON MUSIC AND TECHNOLOGY IN LATIN AMERICA

. . the actual craft of music making is not all that important. The product of music is ideological influence, and I want to direct that influence in a particular direction.

-Cornelius Cardew [8]

As mentioned before, Latin America as an economically and politically weak member of Western culture has remained, for the most part, at the margins of the musical periphery for a long time-mirroring, using and reproduc- ing European and North American models but seldom originating its own. In the last 40 years, however-as a result of increased self-awareness-things have begun to change, and we find "an intel- ligent openness to outside influences, one that does not tolerate any more im- positions, either of material or of form. ... There are no more 'schools,' just people who choose sound as the vehicle for their ideas" [9] (my emphasis).

In 1972, Peruvian composer Cesar Bolafios wrote, "The fundamental problem for music in Latin America lies not in the assimilation of techniques, but in finding ways of expressing the convul- sive reality of the continent" [10]. (It is important to note the similarities between Bolafios's remark and Cornelius Cardew's words quoted at the beginning of this section-I would characterize Cardew at the end of his life as being at the periphery of his culture and nearer to the margins that concern us.) Politi- cal agendas aside, Bolafios points to the necessity for Latin Americans to be aware not only of what goes on outside the region but especially of what hap- pens under our very noses. This implies neither a retreat into nationalism, nor the adoption of any political banners, but a refocusing of musical activity through a conscientious development of it as a form of thought about and reflec- tion upon ourselves-as a heuristic tool in a very broad sense. In this respect, technologically informed approaches to music and the rich discussions they tend to generate are crucially important to this process because they imply the necessity of constructing and affirming a certain kind of identity. My contribution in this respect has been made in the

50 Arias, From the Margins of the Periphery



form of a diffusion of ideas via lectures, radio series and the organization of con- certs and festivals. As shown in the next section, the work of Colombian composers using electronic media is also well- focused in this direction.

MUSIC AND TECHNOLOGY IN COLOMBIA

Technological music made in Colombia or by Colombians has a short and dis- continuous trajectory. I will attempt to sketch its brief and scattered history as

comprehensively as the extremely scarce documentation permits.

A pioneering small group of composers left a number of scattered pieces in the 1960s and 1970s, most of them realized outside Colombia. North American

composer Bob Ostertag recently wrote that "a bona fide home computer studio is within the means of any member of the middle class of the Western world" [11]. When referring to the "Western world," he was clearly not thinking of Latin America, and certainly not about Colom- bia. In the outskirts of the West, one needs far more than just good faith to set

up anything resembling such a studio, with technology a luxury afforded by only a very small portion of the popula- tion. It is difficult not only for individuals to access technology, but for institutions as well. Music-making itself, if not of a

popular or "folkloric" kind, is a very im-

probable activity to pursue [12]. Never- theless, some universities and conservato- ries are slowly developing electronic music facilities, and there is currently a

growing number of Colombian composers who consistently use technology or show its traces in their methods and aesthetics. The pioneering activity in Co- lombia began with Fabio Gonzalez Zuleta, an established academic com-

poser, who completed his Ensayo Electrdnico (Electronic Essay) in 1965, the first electronic composition realized entirely in the country (at the studios of the Radio Difusora Nacional, the National Public Radio). Bias Emilio Atehortua

composed a couple of works (Syrigma in 1966 and Himnos de Amory Vida in 1967) at the laboratory of the legendary Instituto Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. David Feferbaum com-

posed his Estudio Electronico en Tres Movimientos (Electronic Etude in Three Movements) in his private Bogota studio in 1971. Jacquline Nova composed, also in Buenos Aires, her famous-yet-seldom- heard Cantos de la Creacion de la Tierra in

Fig. 2. The author blows air from a hand-held balloon onto the Balloon Kit. (Photo: Khari Romero)

*.. . .

a.ite:..

1972, based on texts of the Tunebo Indi- ans from Boyaca, Colombia. Finally, from this early generation I can mention Francizco Zumaque, who composed a

piece entitled Pikkigui in Paris in 1975, based on a song by the Rossigaro people of the Amazon region.

More sustained electronic music activ-

ity began in Colombia by the end of the 1980s. Thanks to the work of a not-so- small group of musicians (dubbed the "intermediate generation") courses in music and technology are now included in the curriculum of some universities, and electronic music facilities are now available at these institutions. There now exists a movement of Colombian electroacoustic music, albeit one that shows neither any general technical or aesthetic trends nor any connection with the work of the early generation.

It could be said that the visible initia- tors of this new era are Juan Reyes and Mauricio Bejarano, who gained notori- ety in the late 1980s through a series of collaborations that culminated in the

joint publication of an audio cassette under the name of ANAGRAMAS. Despite having often worked together, they have

quite different backgrounds and approaches to music. Reyes studied composition in the United States and his work is very much informed by the Stanford "school" of computer music. On the other hand, Bejarano-an architect, artist and largely self-taught musician-has ist and largely self-taught musicianshas

developed as a composer guided by his keen interest and broad knowledge of musique concrete, becoming a champion of the French acousmatic school in Colom- bia. Both have been very active as univer-

sity professors and event organizers. Musician Roberto Garcia and I joined

Reyes and Bejarano in the early 1990s, after studying in Spain with Chilean

composer Gabriel Brncic. Our insistence on performing live and our rather slack

presence favored improvisation, anoma- lous instruments and low-tech uses of

electricity. Garcia now teaches electroacoustic music and "free improvisation" at the Universidad Nacional, where he has

recently begun (jointly with Bejarano) an ongoing concert series entitled La Primera Oreja (The First Ear). Working independently, composer and video and installation artist Gilles Charalambos has been one of the few to address the gen- der-breaking implications of technology (his latest project is a series of distinctly Colombian, "plunderphonic"-style dance

pieces). His work challenges the divi- sions between "high" and "low" art and erases the boundaries between artistic

disciplines. While studying in Canada, guitarist

Arturo Parra developed an extensive lexicon of unorthodox techniques for his instrument. His work is acoustic but

strongly influenced by his experience with electronic music, as eloquently demonstrated in his piece Mimetismo

Arias, From the Margins of the Periphery 51



Fig. 3. The author cleans the Balloon Kit with sponges-a loud buzz is elicited in this way. (Photo: Khari Romero)

(1992), a collaboration with Canadian

composer Stephane Roy. Catalina Peralta, who studied in Austria, now di- rects the electronic music studio at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota and has herself produced some electronic works. Finally, from this intermediate generation I will mention Gustavo Parra, another very independent com-

poser whose electroacoustic works are also important.

While most of the members of the intermediate generation work almost ex-

clusively with electronic media, a

younger generation of composers is now

busily composing music that makes use of whatever techniques they deem fit. Musician Rodolfo Acosta has done a few

outstanding electroacoustic pieces both in Colombia and in Bourges, France. Alba Fernanda Triana, Alejandro Gomez, German Toro and Ricardo Escallon are also active in music for acoustic and electronic media.

In the field of criticism and documentation, I must mention the work of Carlos Barreiro, who for many years has curated annual concert series presenting works by the abovementioned composers. He has seriously documented the music and educated the public on it as well, through his writings and lectures.

This small scene has established active

exchanges with centers of computer music in Europe and North America and now retains a considerable international

presence. Likewise, over the last decade numerous musicians from abroad-rep- resenting a wide range of aesthetic and

technological approaches-have visited Colombia (mostly Bogota, sadly), to perform, lecture and conduct workshops. They include John Chowning, Francis Dhumont, Stephane Roy, Wil Offermans, The Ensemble Intuitive Musik Weimar, Dror Feiler, Nicolas Collins, Francoise Barriere, Heiner Goebbels, David Moss and Daniel Teruggi, among others.

TECHNOLOGY IN MY MUSIC I began to listen intently to sound with the aid of electronics around 1983. Be- fore that, all I could hear was merely "music." Using contact and air micro-

phones as hearing aids, I unveiled for

myself the music of the mundane, from its tiniest to most monumental manifes- tations. Recording and scrutinizing sounds in an analog electronic music studio allowed for further discoveries. Fleet-

ing complexity became my obsession and main concern: I sought to provoke very intricate sounds that would capture

listeners' attention but give them no time to ponder. Live, mostly improvised performances and a few solo tape pieces resulted from this exploratory period, which spanned roughly from 1986 to 1991. Most of these activities took place in Barcelona, Spain, in and around the Phonos Foundation and during courses

taught by Chilean composer Gabriel Brncic. I conceived and developed the music in close collaboration with Luis

Boyra and Roberto Garcia under the name Sol Sonoro. This trio, formed in the spring of 1986, devoted its energies to composing and improvising collec-

tively, making use of multifarious ob-

jects, traditional instruments and electroacoustic means of sound production and manipulation. We paid close attention to the timbral qualities of each and

every sound and tried to do it all in real time. A typical performance would include prerecorded open-reel tapes (often manipulated manually and electroni-

cally), an ever-shifting arsenal of found

objects (most of them very small and re-

quiring amplification in order to be heard), prepared electric guitar, flute, analog synthesizers, computer-con- trolled MIDI devices, water, metal, wood, plastic, latex, etc.

In 1989, I began collaborating with other musicians in different projects that were in many ways extensions of my work with Sol Sonoro, notably the bass, guitar, flute and electronics trio TACA with Carlos Gomez and GabrielJacovkis; the proto-rock trio &NiL with Garcia and G6mez; and GUEN-DAI, a group led by flutist Hiroshi Kobayashi that vari-

ously included Luis Boyra, Nestor Munt, Conrado T. Costa and Quico Samso, among many others. In these projects I

played flute enhanced with electronic effects, which I termed "flauta de

pedales" (pedal flute). At around the same time, I became involved in a string of duo collaborations which continue in the present, with such composers as

Pepe Sarto, Jakob Draminsky, Miquel Jorda, Alejandro G6mez, Pascal Boudreault, Renato Maselli and Jane Henry. Between 1991 and 1993 I got in-

creasingly involved with playing and

composing for rubber balloons, which had been a household-item sound source in the work of Sol Sonoro since as early as 1987.

As I shifted towards bigger, acoustically audible sound sources (and in part for logistical reasons), my use of amplification and electronics in general (at least in performance) gradually subsided. In Feb-




Fig. 4. The author "slaps" the Balloon Kit with a rubber band. (Photo: Khari Romero)

ruary 1993, while preparing to perform a piece byJorda, we stumbled upon the idea of a "Balloon Kit," an array of balloons of various kinds mounted on a suitable frame (a director's chair). More of an assemblage than a construction, this contraption remains largely a "found instrument" (although attempts have been made to implement a special frame). I use the balloons in two ways: as elastic "aerophones" (made to utter many kinds of screeching voices) (Figs 1, 2), and as elastic "membranophones" (percussed, rubbed, scratched, snapped, tapped, plucked, etc.) (Figs 3, 4 and Color Plate A No. 1). I play them mostly with my hands and forearms and with the aid of extraneous objects (pieces of Styrofoam, rubber bands, cocktail mixers, etc.). The Balloon Kit has turned out to be a versa- tile instrument, a kind of ersatz synthe- sizer and purveyor of a rich sound world [13]. It is inexpensive, portable, lower than low-tech, and visually appealing as well. I have performed with it for the last five years (1993-1998), both solo and with a variety of ensembles. The Balloon Kit represents my current approach to making complex textural music without reverting to either traditional instruments or electronic devices. It is my way

of doing "electronic music unplugged." But do not get me wrong: I might plug back in at any moment.

References and Notes

1. R. Murray Schafer, The Soundscape: Our Sonic En- vironment and the Tuning of the World (Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1994) p. 76.

2. Comparing technology with craftsmanship in the context of discussing Pierre Schaffer's work, Carlos Palombini points to the elucidative quality of technology: "From earliest times till Plato the word techne is linked to the word episteme, both meaning 'knowing' in the widest sense. Such knowing affords an opening up and, as an opening up, it is a reveal- ing." See Carlos Palombini, "Technology and Pierre Schaeffer," MikroPolyphonie4 (July-December 1997); <http://farben.latrobe.edu.au/mikropol/>.

3. In his book Mimesis and Alterity, anthropologist Michael Taussig refers to the introduction of the phonograph among the Cuna Indians of the Darien region between Panama and Colombia at the turn of the century. Taussig's speculations seem relevant to my discussion here of the "side effects" of technology. Music induced or informed by technology could be understood as an appropriation or "mas- tering" of the "new" by way of replication or emula- tion. Taussig hints at the far-reaching implications of such "copies": "Mastery is mocked as First World and Other Worlds now mirror, interlock, and rup- ture each other's alterity to such a degree that all that is left is the excess-the self-consciousness as to the need for an identity, sexual, racial, ethnic, and national, and the roller-coastering violence and en- joyment of this state of affairs." See Michael Taussig, Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of The Senses (NewYork/London: Routledge, 1993) p. 273.

4. Agostino Di Scipio, "Interpreting Music Technol-

ogy: From Heidegger to Subversive Rationaliza- tion," SONUS 18, No. 1, p. 79.

5. John Corbett, Extended Play: Sounding Offfrom John Cage to Dr. Funkenstein (Durham/London: Duke Univ. Press, 1994) p. 84.

6. Edwin Prevost, No Sound Is Innocent: AMM and the Art of Self Invention, Meta-Musical Narratives and Es- says (Essex, U.KI: Copula, 1995) p. 117.

7. Prevost [6] p. 3.

8. This quote is taken from a 1975 interview by Adrian Jack and is mentioned by LindaJ. Dusman in "The Individual as Structure in Cornelius Cardew's The Great Learning. Paragraph 7," Interface 16 (1987) p. 201.

9. "... una abertura inteligente que no acepta mas imposiciones ni a nivel de material ni a nivel de forma.... No hay mas escuelas, hay solamente personas que escogen el sonido como vehiculo de sus ideas." Jose Maria Nieves, "Estudio Comparativo de la Producci6n Musical Latinoamericana," in Isabel Aretz, ed., America Latina en Su Misica (Bogota, Columbia: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 1977) p. 224.

10. "... la problematica fundamental de la musica latinoamericana no reside en asimilar tecnicas, sino en encontrar un camino para expresar la convulsa realidad politica y social de este continente." Cesar Bolafios quoted in Luis Hector Correa de Azevedo, "La Musica de America Latina," in Aretz [9] p. 67.

11. Bob Ostertag, "Why Computer Music Sucks," Resonance 5, No. 1 (1996) p. 6.

12. This is but a minor manifestation of the fact that, in most of the continent, modernity has been accompanied by deficient modernization, as noted by Nestor Garcia Canclini, who also says: "Since we were colonized by the less developed of the Euro- pean nations, and were subjected to the counterreformation and other antimodernist movements, only after independence were we able to begin updating our countries. Since then there have been waves of modernization.... But these movements could not meet the accomplishments of European modernization. They did not create autonomous markets for each of the artistic fields, nor did they succeed in professionalizing artists and writers or in achieving the economic status re- quired to support efforts of experimentation and cultural democratization." "Puesto que fuimos colonizados por las naciones europeas mas atrasadas, sometidos a la contrareforma y otros movimientos antimodernos, solo con la independencia pudimos iniciar la actualizaci6n de nuestros paises. Desde entonces hubo olas de modernizaci6n.... Pero estos movimientos no pudieron cumplir las operaciones de la modernizaci6n europea. No formaron mercados autonomos para cada campo artistico, ni consiguieron una profesionalizaci6n extensa de artistas y escritores, ni el desarrollo econ6mico capaz de sustentar los esfuerzos de renovaci6n experimental y democratizaci6n cultural." See Nestor Garcia Canclini, Culturas Hbridas: Estrategias para Entrar y Salir de la Modernidad (Mexico: Editorial Grijalbo, S.A., 1990) p. 21.

13. For an in-depth explanation of my work with balloons, see Ricardo Arias, "Scratching the Sur- face: The Balloon in My Life," Experimental Musical Instruments 13, No. 2, 29-33 (1997).

Discography Most of the music mentioned above is not commer- cially available. Both published and unpublished recordings and scores can be requested directly from the composers.

Bejarano, Mauricio, and Reyes,Juan. ANAGRAMAS, self-produced cassette (1992).

Arias, From the Margins of the Periphery 53



Bejarano, Mauricio, Jaugua(R) in Prix International Noiroit 1995 INA-GRM CD NOR 4 (1996).

Reyes, Juan, EQUUS & RESONANCIAS, Musicomp CD (1996).

Roy, Stephane, and Parra, Arturo. Mimetismo, in Roy, Stephane, Kaleidos, empreintes DIGITALes CD IMED 9631 (1994).

Sol Sonoro. Idea Fixa in INF-ART, Fundaxio La Caixa LP (1990).

Various Artists, 33 Anos de Musica Electroacustica en Co- lombia, Eco-Comunidad Electroacustica CD (1998).

"+" (Charalambos, Gilles, and Sarmiento, Roberto). -+1=+, Automaton Sign CD AS0002

Discography Appendix

Rodolfo Acosta, Cra. 7 # 145-38, Mz. 4, Ed. 2, apt. 301, Bogota, DC, Colombia. Tel: (571) 625 6894.

Mauricio Bejarano, Cll 130 B #8-17, Bogots, DC, Colombia. Tel & Fax: (571) 258 3552.

Gilles Charalambos, A. A. 59784, Bogota, DC, Co- lombia. Fax: (571) 255 3480; E-mail: <[email protected]>.

Roberto Garcia, Cll 122 #13 A-51, apt. 506, BogotS, DC, Colombia. Tel: (571) 214 4827; E-mail: <[email protected]>.

Juan Reyes, Cll. 71 #12-36, BogotA, DC, Colombia. Tel: (571) 255 8530; Fax: (571) 210 1236.

Expotamia Musica (Ricardo Rosental), Cll. 70 #4- 47, BogotA, DC, Colombia. Tel: (571) 249 3900; E- mail: <[email protected]>.

Manuscript received 20 February 1998.

A *A*

Leonardo Synesthesia Special Project

Synesthesia is the phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sense modality gives rise to a sensation in another sense modality. For example, some people have the sensation of

seeing colors when hearing music. We invite artists, historians and scientists to contribute

writings to Leonardo's Synesthesia Special Project; papers will be published on an ongoing basis in the journal. Scientists and researchers are invited to explore the nature and his-

tory of synesthesia. Artists who are currently working on projects incorporating intersense

relationships, such as in Intermedia works, are especially encouraged to submit papers. We are interested in learning not only about actual intersense experiences, but also about works that result from the working out of complex systems of equivalences.

Interested authors are encouraged to contact Guest EditorJack Ox at <[email protected]> with proposals or to send proposals to the Leonardo Editorial Office, 425 Market Street, 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, U.S.A.




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