Taste Test: Why ‘You Just Have to Try It’ Is the Only Honest Description for your Senses
- Carina Kramer
- 12 hours ago
- 2 min read
Musings from an Artist's Notebook: Senses
No, I don't mean "take a big bite out of your art at home" 🤣
Have you ever tried describing the taste of a perfectly ripe mango or the texture of a ripe avocado (not the European ones ^^) to someone who’s never had one. We might end up saying, “You just have to try it.” Quite unsatisfactory lol....and a polite way of admitting that language simply can’t capture the richness of a sensory moment.
Wittgenstein summed it up nicely: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” When the world is a kaleidoscope of scents, textures, and tones, a handful of adjectives feels like trying to paint a chimpanzee's subtle expressions with a single brushstroke.
Our Brain as a Filter
Neuroscientists estimate the brain processes ≈ 11 million bits of information per second, yet our conscious awareness can only handle about 40 bits. That means over 99.999 % of what we sense never reaches the “I‑think‑I‑noticed‑that” stage. It’s like a radio station playing a beautiful symphony, while we only hear the occasional drum beat.
Even though we don’t register most of it, that hidden torrent still nudges our emotions, our preferences, and the way we read a painting.
Translating through Art
Visual art is a kind of translator for those silent sensations. Take the portrait of the “Joyce” above. You may not necessarily be able to describe the story she tells in this moment; but you may be able to feel it.
A painter can layer pigments, but each viewer reads those layers through a personal filter built from past smells, sounds, and textures. The result is a private, almost indescribable conversation between the artwork and the observer. 🙃
Mapping Circles
In my head this concept looks like a series of rings expanding outward like ripples on a pond. The innermost ring is labelled Words, the next Conscious Perception, and the outermost Sub‑conscious Current (and who knows what comes beyond that 🙃).
Inner Circle – Words – “Sweet,” “bright,” “soft.” Useful, but limited.
Middle Circle – Conscious Senses – The aroma of fresh coffee, the coolness of a breeze, the rumble of an elephant. Just out of reach of language.
Outer Circle – Sub‑conscious Flow – The gut‑level reaction to a colour, the inexplicable nostalgia triggered by a sensation, the subtle shift in posture when you watch a lion hunt.
A Light-Hearted Experiment
Try a “sense‑swap” for a day. Pick a sense that isn’t your usual go‑to and deliberately foreground it. Listen to a podcast with the volume turned down and focus on the texture of the chair you’re sitting on. Smell a candle while you read a book, then describe the story only in terms of scent. You’ll be amazed at how many hidden details surface when you force a different sense to take the lead.
Share your stories in the comments below—or ask someone for their favourite sense. You never know what you might discover. 😁
Thank you for reading. Go check out some of my other articles below.
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