A three-course vision – Ben Wintour B’09

A three-course vision

When you taste calamari, does a blob of shaving foam appear in your vision? When you eat chocolate, does it send a river of black tar flowing past your eyeline? If so, you are probably experiencing synesthesia, a neurological trait that involves the crossover of senses. For people with flavour-to-colour synesthesia, taste may be accompanied by a vision of shapes, colours and textures.

The University of Sussex suggests that more of the population have synesthesia than previously predicted with the real estimate being around 4%. Famous synesthetes include Billie Eilish and Pharrell Williams. Marilyn Monroe had it too. #synesthesiatok is a trending hashtag on TikTok and many young people are sharing their experiences with the trait.

For the first time, creative and social entrepreneur, Ben Wintour B’09, has translated menu items experienced by a synesthete into an art collection. Ben, who previously launched the Steel Warriors initiative to melt down street knives and turn them into calisthenics gyms in London parks, recently heard about synesthesia and wondered “What would a Big Mac or an ice cream sundae look like to someone with this trait and how could I bring that to life?”

Ben was introduced to Professor Sean Day, who not only has a flavour-to-colour type of synesthesia, but also a music-to-colour and odour-to-colour type too. In an interview with the professor, Ben asked him what having synesthesia meant to him; “One of the things which is somewhat difficult for people to fathom is that having congenital synesthesia does not mean that your life is constantly full of “Oh, WOW!” experiences. A defining aspect of congenital synesthesia is that the perceptions are basically invariable: if the colour you see for pasta is puce, that’s what it always is, whether you like it or not. I’m 60 years old now, and have had synesthesia all of my life and the experiences are always the same; for example, the flavour of coffee has produced the same dark oily green pool for me for over 40 years now, and the sound of a piano the same sky blue for over 50”.

As for Professor Day’s favourite meals he said, “Unagi with shaved ginger makes me see a huge, brilliant bright orange floating cloud of what looks like shaving cream; turkey with mole poblano produces a gorgeous shade of light bluish lavender, sprinkled with tiny cut rubies, emeralds, and sapphires; and mango ice cream, or a mango lassi, makes me see a large field of turquoise with wavy stripes of cherry red across it”. He goes on to add, “To wash this all down, nothing compares to a glass of

Ben Wintour

Talisker scotch whisky which produces a rioting nightmare of blobs and streaks of blazing neon reds, oranges, pinks, white, greens, blues and purples against a background of very dark purplish smoke; a scene right out of Hades!”

The synesthetic visuals which Professor Day sees are nontransparent and fully immersive, “They only last for about three or four seconds, and then dissipate over the course of two or three seconds. But, during that time, I cannot see beyond them. So, I never ever eat or drink things while I am driving.”

Ben was fascinated by the concept and passionate to create a more genuine visualisation of what Sean sees when he tastes and, using Photoshop, worked with the colours and shades to match them with ingredients before bringing the vision to life.

To see the prints and learn more you can visit www.colourpalate.art and https://vimeo.com/733262161

Big Mac and Coke

Grilled squid with fresh chilli on a bed of spinach