Abstract

Synaesthesia has been a subject in the visual arts for centuries. This chapter shows what kind of insights and tools the visual arts have contributed to our understanding of synaesthetic perceptions. It offers a broad picture of the uses and meanings of synaesthesia in various visual art forms, including: painting, film and animation, art installations, art educational projects, product design, and urban architecture. The review of these works is guided by two questions: What can we learn about synaesthesia from art projects? Have they made the general public more aware of synaesthetic perceptions? I conclude that the long history of artistic experimentation with synaesthesia, of which just a few examples are discussed in this chapter, has shown many practical uses of synaesthesia. Artists have made the public more aware of how synaesthesia feels, and art projects can help people to explore their own intersensory and synaesthetic sensibilities.