This year at Sizer, the walls and display cases have been filled to the brim with student artwork and projects. The students are able to see their classmates’ work and learn more about the topics discussed throughout the building. The most recent installation in the atrium is artwork by Will H., Grade 12. He has been working on this project for the past 2 ½ months in Independent Art, a teacher-supervised course that allows him to work on his own projects. He submitted a formal proposal that included a description of his project idea, materials, and time frame. The project focuses on his own experience with Synesthesia and his interest in connecting other members of the community who might not be aware of the condition – or may unknowingly have it themselves.
His description accompanying the project reads as follows:
“Synesthesia is a harmless neurological phenomenon that describes when “the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body” (according to Oxford Dictionary). For synesthetes (people with Synesthesia, statistically 1 in 2000 humans), any number of a variety of senses can be connected. The most common form of Synesthesia is when people, in their minds, associate numbers with colors. Another is the association between time and spatial relationships. Last year, I realized that I have these two forms. On a surface level, this project is my way of communicating my associations.
The paintings of the individual numbers are each titled Zero is Clear, One is White, Two is Red, Three is Green and so on. They depict each number’s color in my mind. I like to think of number-color Synesthesia as a marriage between science and art, between objective figures and subjective interpretations.The oil painting on canvas does not yet have a title.
The pieces on my spatial associations of years and weeks are named A Year and A Week respectively. On each board-game like track, I picture myself moving clock-wise at all times. With regard to time, synesthetes visualize an intangible concept through their minds.The possibility that a viewer might realize their own Synesthesia through these pieces will ideally model a connection between two isolated human experiences. Even still, one must trust the other is experiencing the same thing.
I hope you enjoy my first Art Independent project.”
We look forward to seeing what else he - and other classmates - create throughout the year!
