If I look for a guttural response when hearing the word I think of 'feel' not the physical manifestation. Stairs are all about feeling the movement of your own body or watching the movement of a beautiful dress as it descends.
Look at 'nude descending a staircase'.
Stair is not only about going up but also down; two opposing sensations. I remember climbing a mountain in Nepal and the descending it. My mood was different; from passionate euphoria to sentimental longing.
Synthetic is other worldly, slightly crass and cold, out of body. If I have a chunk of titanium in my heart, to me that Is synthetic; just not OF my body. It doesn't need to be plastic to do that.
I'm not crazy about the escalator reference. It really drains the sensuality out of stair.
You don't need to take away experience to express synthetic. That's what I think I mean by all of this.
Jen
