SYNESTHESIA is not sickness – it is beautiful brain malfunction
“She has that displacement of the senses which others take drugs to find. So she is like a lover of rock who sees vibrations when she hears sounds.“
That’s what Norman Mailer said about Marilyn Monroe in his book
You might not believe me but Marilyn Monroe was sick! she had “ SYNESTHESIA “.
Synesthesia is a neurological anomaly in which stimulation of one sensory system simultaneously stimulates another system, making it one of the rarest anomalies on earth! It means people with synesthesia can taste notes, hear colors or smell days!
Why am bringing this up now ?
Because a very special artist decided to paint what she sees .
Well, decided to paint the music she sees!
Melissa s. McCracken ‘s website front page
“But the most wonderful “brain malfunction” of all is seeing the music I hear. It flows in a mixture of hues, textures, and movements, shifting as if it were a vital and intentional element of each song. Having synesthesia isn’t distracting or disorienting. It adds a unique vibrant to the world I experience.“
Being able to actually SEE music in action , colored and moving vitally around the place , shifting and changing its texture and patterns, had given Melissa a sensation privilege allowing her to produce some magnificent pieces of arts
Did you ever think how Karma Police for Radio head will look like if it was a paint ?
Well that’s how Melissa sees it :
Or what about the beautiful “ At Last “ when sung by Etta James, well better seen than heard!
“Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try
No hell below us, Above us only sky!
Imagine all the people, Living for today… “
John Lennon people, John Lennon
If you want to see more stunning art works you definitely have to pay Melissa’s website a visit!
But WAIT, we are not done here yet
You might say : “Oh, ok that’s good but still, there are not a lot of synesthetic artists out there, why make a deal out of it when it’s only one of a kind?“
Do You know who else have ‘’music to color ‘’ synesthesia?
This man: Happy
Yes, That’s RIGHT!
He said in Nightline interview “It just always stuck out in my mind, and I could always see it. I don’t know if that makes sense, but I could always visualize what I was hearing… Yeah, it was always like weird colors.”
Do you know Charli XCX? of course you do! who didn’t watch the fault in our stars and cried himself to sleep, Charli is synesthetic!
Want to get more surprised?
Kanye west has ‘’Music to color ‘’ synesthesia too !
Actually synesthesia is not exclusive for artists and it’s not ‘’Music To Color‘’ type only.
there’s Richard Feynman, the great scientist. He had “graphemes to color “ synesthesia, meaning he always saw letters and numbers in colors.
Vladimir Sirin, American-Russian author – known for his most famous novel ‘’ Lolita ‘’ – had “graphemes to color “ synesthesia that affected most of his works.
After all, synesthesia is a fascinating neurological condition that opens the minds for new and very different experience and we definitely envy those who have it! So the next time your friend tells you that Mondays are blue, pay attention, he might be seeing something you can’t realize!
Image credit: Melissa S McCracken