Précis
Synesthesia is an unusual state where there is crossing of the senses, when one can smell colors, see sounds, and feel tastes. Gail Martino and Lawrence Marks, in an article titled “Synesthesia:Strong and Weak” bring evidence that weak synesthesia exits as well , “that one can create, identify and appreciate cross-modal connections or associations”. The important implication is that many can experience synesthesia, at least on a weak level.
Those tested with synesthesia have shown to have a strong memory, which indicates that memory is an aspect of synesthesia.
Memory plays a very important role in Jewish tradition. Customs were established for the sake of memory. For example, eating matzo, unleavened bread that is eaten during the holiday of Passover, reminds us of the hasty departure of the Jews when leaving Egypt.
The Talmud was only recorded from memory so that it would not be forgotten. The recording of the Talmud was done in a way to re assure the continuation of the memory.
Since the destruction of the Second Temple the Jewish people have had no sense of place. They have been persecuted and set to wander ever since (law of house building). The strong customs, rituals and the studying of the Torah is the only reason the Jewish people exist today.
Design a space for the enhancement of memory. Design for a people who don’t have a place.
3 comments:
define the difference between space and place...
I found this a while back...it fascinates me...
Spellman, Catherine, Ed. Re-Envisioning Landscape Architecture. Actar, Barcelona, 2003.
“Topographic Memory.” Bruce Lindsey
“Keith Basso in the book Wisdom Sits in Places describes the importance of this to the Western Apache, and, while the book is extraordinary in describing the complexity and beauty of this relationship, it is particularly evident in their use of language and place names. The language of the Western Apache in conversation is ‘cast in pervasively visual terms.’ Thinking is done primarily with images, and the role of the speaker is to convey these images to the listener. ‘Thinking, as Apache’s conceive of it, consists in picturing to oneself and attending privately to the pictures. Speaking consists in depicting one’s pictures for other people, who are thus invited to picture these depictions and respond to them with depictions of their own.’ This thinking and speaking in terms of mental pictures is facilitated with the use of place names. Place names support the image construction in the way the name describes the place and in the way many names have an associated ‘place’ story that is recalled when the name is spoken. These stories, often with a moral implication, become part of the ‘wisdom’ that is associated with the place. ‘Mountains and arroyos step in symbolically for grandmothers and uncles…for geographical features have served the people for centuries as indispensable mnemonic pegs on which to hang the moral teachings of their history.’ The names of places often allow for a spatial orientation as in the translation of these names ‘Lizards Dart Away In Front, The Eastern Face of a Mountain or Whiteness Spreads out Descending to Water, a Sandstone Cliff Next to a Spring.’ They can also suggest how a place has changed over time when a name no longer ‘looks like the place.’” (p. 47)
this is a great quote...might help some think about site
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