Leonardo
Vol. 36, Issue 4 (2003)

Leonardo is a print journal, published five times a year. Leonardo is edited by Leonardo/the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, and published by the MIT Press.

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Editorial

Aesthetic Computing Manifesto

Abstracts

Visualizing Petri Nets in 3D

An Investigation into the Use of Metaphor in the rube(TM) Paradigm

The Leonardo Gallery

Complexity

Special Section: Global Crossings: The Cultural Roots of Globalization
The Spirit and Power of Water Project

Introduction: The Spirit and Power of Water: A Leonardo Virtual Africa Workshop

From "Life-Water" to "Death-Water" or On the Foundations of African Artistic Creation from Yesterday to Tomorrow

ABSTRACT: The question of water crosses all African cultures---water as the critical factor for a happy life (life-water) or water mastered as a source of malediction (death-water). The aquatic nature of such a civilization appears then as the foundation of shapes and contents of African artistic expression. An analysis of various forms of creation shows that, without a lucid understanding of the power of water in the constitution of Africa's identity, it is impossible to interpret correctly African art from yesterday to tomorrow.

Fragments of a Flow: A Thread of Water in Video Work

Nommo---The Spirit of Water---in the Dogon World

Alma da Água: A Space Awareness Initiative

Liquid Light: Working with Water

Music, Colors and Movements of Water

The Symbolic Function of Water in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cultural Approach

Wave Rings

Memory of Water

Artist's Article

Decon2 (Decon Squared): Deconstructing Decontamination

ABSTRACT: Decon is short for decontamination (e.g. stripdown and washdown in response to anthrax scares, etc.), but the term "decon" is also a short form for "deconstruction" (literary criticism asserting multiple conflicting interpretations of philosophical, political or social implications rather than an author's intention). The author describes an anthrax-ready mailroom exhibit that included mass casualty decontamination showers, which he built in the summer of 2001, based on a patent he filed in April 2000, to deconstruct the coming "war on terrorism" and the suspension of civil liberties and personal privacy that might follow in the wake of bioterror attacks.

General Article

Personal Profiles of Color Synesthesia: Developing a Testing Method for Artists and Scientists

ABSTRACT: The authors describe a practical method for assessing personal profiles of color:word, color:taste, color:music and color:odor synesthesia. The Netherlands Color Synesthesia (NeCoSyn) method is based on the Swedish Natural Color System and the test of genuineness for colored-word synesthesia developed by Baron-Cohen et al. The NeCoSyn method has been tested scientifically and shown to reliably distinguish different types of color synesthesia. It provides individual profiles of color synesthesia in the dimensions of hue, chroma and blackness. This article describes the method and discusses possible applications of NeCoSyn profiles in different fields of the arts and sciences.

Historical Perspective on the Arts, Sciences and Technology

Art, Optics and History: New Light on the Hockney Thesis

ABSTRACT: David Hockney's recent book Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters argues that 15th-century painters employed optical devices to achieve realistic portraiture. A reexamination of the history of optical projection techniques raises problems for Hockney's provocative hypothesis.

Statements

The Orbital Poetry Engine

Texts by Jean-Bernard Condat Retracted fromLeonardo because of Plagiarism

Spectroscopic Imaging in Art Conservation: A New Tool for Materials Investigations

Special Section: Intersenses and New Technologies

Introduction

Sense and Intersensoriality

ABSTRACT: Intersensoriality is part of the more general problem of musical meaning: How does sound relate to something outside of the world of sound? If we distinguish the "form" of sound from its "matter," the discussion can then be divided into two parts. First, how can sound forms (shapes, profiles) suggest other temporal forms, such as movement? The hypothesis developed here is that sensorimotor experience is generalized to furnish a base, in successive layers, for identifying suggested movements that are more and more abstract. Secondly, how can a sound be said to be "hot" or "cold," "dark" or "clear"? Metaphors concerning the matter of sound deal with a common level of synesthesia; a few stages of the historical study of this phenomenon are recalled here.

Motor-Mimetic Music Cognition

ABSTRACT: Music appeals to more than just our sense of hearing, and clearly we often associate other sensations with music. These non-sonorous sensations seem to be inseparable from the experience of music; in particular, images of movement appear to be deeply embedded in our perception and cognition of music. Explorations of mental images of music-related movement could enhance our understanding of music as a phenomenon, as well as be of practical value in various music-making tasks.

Synesthesia: A Multimodal Combination of Senses

ABSTRACT: Synesthesia is an unusual phenomenon that is occasionally reported in artists and writers. In its pathological context, synesthesia is described as a confusion of the senses where the excitation of one sense triggers stimulation in a completely different sensory modality. In contrast to this pathological form, synesthesia can also be considered as a physiological behavior that involves a multimodal combination of all senses. Such an expression of sensory perception can also be considered as a natural process that contributes to the adaptation of the living organism to its environment. The author attempts to analyze the cerebral mechanisms involved in sensory perception and synesthesia.

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