The extended meanings of these two words can be seen as a form of synaesthesia, a neurological phenomena of which one sense, for example the sight, automatically stimulates a second-sense experience, such as an emotion or a feeling.
An ongoing exhibition at No. 1 Art Space, inside Beijing's Jianguo Garden Hotel, shows paintings, sculptures and installations of the variety of artists' synaesthetic associations such as between colors and sounds, and between colors and smells.
Featured artists come from different countries, including Chinese painter Xiong Ninghui (who transfer the grandeur of classical music into vivid colors and abstract images onto canvas), Maria Jose de Cordoba Serrano, Spanish lithographer and a professor of University of Granada with expertise in social science, psychology and education, Chinese photographer He Jianwei and British artist Timothy B Layden.
The exhibition runs through Oct 13, and is part of the First Synaesthesia Art Exhibition and Forum.
Jointly organized by the Chinese Synaesthesia Alliance and the International Foundation Artecitta, the event will further tour to Xuzhou of Jiangsu province, Hangzhou of Zhejiang province and Guangzhou, with exhibitions and forums to introduce to people the importance of synaesthesia in stimulating people's imagination and creativity.