The Tunnel of Senses will encourage you to reflect on the senses of hearing, touch, sight and smell, and will take you through the different sensory experiences in life – from the young child’s first visual impressions to an older man’s limited hearing.
The Tunnel of Senses takes you on a voyage of discovery in your own sensory apparatus. Here, you can feel, listen and smell your way to new knowledge about yourself. On the way, you move from the foetus’ protective environment inside the womb and the sensory richness of youth to the quiet shadowland of old age.
The foetus initially experiences life inside the womb as being dark and silent, but then becomes aware of the rhythm of its mother’s heart.
Here, safe within the warm confines of the womb, the human senses come into being one by one.
Photo: David Trood.
For the newborn child, everything is new. The coolness of the air. The solidity of everything. The smells of life. The movements of the body. Sensory impressions are wonderful yet difficult to describe. A newborn infant’s brain works hard to puzzle out exactly what is what among the myriad of sensory impressions.
When, as a young person or adult, you move through a green and sweet-smelling forest, your brain is bombarded with signals from your eyes, ears, nose and skin.
But it is also informed about each moving muscle and joint, as well as the position and orientation of your head. All your senses come alive when you take a walk in the woods.
Forest Room. Photo: David Trood.
For the elderly, senses can become dulled and perhaps fade away completely. It is hard to balance. Taste and smell become weaker. Sight becomes foggy, while darkness descends. Even sounds are difficult to perceive in the room with the bright spots.
