Synesthesia: a condition that happens when one sensory perception triggers another at the same time
People often forget, or fail to realize, that it may be considered a privilege to experience art as it is intended. For this reason, Peter Pekalski critiques the accessibility of art for those who live with synesthesia and other conditions that affect their senses. Pekalski’s Sin Esthesia transforms iconic paintings by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Jean-Michel Basquiat into an auditory experience using Pixelsynth—a web browser- based instrument. Inspired by the condition of synesthesia Pekalski offers a unique way to experience art. The audio component must be deciphered through a performance of psychological labor, while the visual component uses colorful electrocardiogram waveforms that evoke the relationship between labor and love.Sin Esthesia serves to alter familiar art to be unfamiliar to those who experience the medium as intended. This instigates contemplation and declares war on the preconceived perception of accepted normality.