Playing (With) by Fred Collopy, Case Western Reserve University

The necessity for the use of color in its various phases has only been felt by artists since 1800. The intensity of modern life has made a greater intensity necessary in art. Only by being more intense than life can art hold its own as a vital factor in either taste or inspiration.

— Stanton Macdonald-Wright, A Treatise on Color, 1924 www.glimpsejournal.com

didn’t know my grandfather; he died before I was born. But I did know a particular image of I him. As a child, I used to visit a mural that was part of Weinold Reiss’ magnificent Cincin- Glimpse nati Union Terminal suite. There, my grandfather, who had posed for Reiss, stood at the controls of a big mixing machine with the most beautiful liquid flowing into the 62 barrels below.

Figure 1. Detail from Weinold Reiss’ Cincinnati Union Terminal Mural. This panel was one of 14 mosaics, which were moved to the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati International Airport in the 1970s before Union Terminal’s concourse was destroyed. Image courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio. volume 2.3 autumn 2009 Color 63 .

- - - - - and and A ouis L Castel andinsky K 5 eyond their Kandinsky’s . sound B He writes that Using the keys of Wassily Perhaps the most signifi most the Perhaps 6 In 1725, responding in part to On the Spiritual in Art e proposed making transient H astel, a Jesuit priest and physicist, wrote wrote physicist, and priest Jesuit a astel, erstner erstner attributes this unscientific color C G

4 Newton inspired a movement that has lasted ewton’s ideas about the nature of light, he idearelatingheof thenotes themusical of scale ertrand ertrand n addition to relating various to particular content of char such among famous Most expression. musical colors and acterizations can be their found in potential classic essay, for describes each of the most common colors compares them andto musical sounds. is: there color peaceful most the is green “absolute overtones no has direction, any in move not does it of joy or sorrow or passion, demands nothing, calls out to no one...I would think the best way of char Still, for three centuries. N B an essay announcing his invention of an harpsichord. ocular the way that musical notes are. an ordinary harpsichord would reveal colors alone or in combinations, producing a succession music. of level the to painting elevate would that proclaimed that his invention would lend colors “a immobile an on which and vivacity certain and inanimate canvas they never have.” T to various colors occurred many times over the succeeding two centuries (Figure 2). obvious arbitrariness, additional scales. these with exist problems also cantisthat they don’t account howfor differently we make sense of visual and audio information. necessar doesn’t harmonious sounds that pattern ily look harmonious. I emotional the explored have painters notes, musical Sir Isaac Newton puzzled of nature the over to its relationship transi short but fluid with prominent, most the being tions.” alchemy. mapping to Newton’s involvement in

- - - - hatever hatever 2, 3 W he wanted he isual artist artist isual V 1 like to think I : orporation, he spent the the spent he orporation, t is therefore no surprise surprise no therefore is t I got to know some of the the of some know to got C I ith this knowledge, many knowledge, this With olor, pure and simple. simple. and pure olor, C eiborg eiborg W ult & & ult was by struck a 1964 of musing Frank A I The physicist understood, as many have hose who knew my grandfather Those said who thatknew my grandfather f course, inhaling paint fumes day after day day after day fumes paint inhaling course, f O n n actual can fact observers as distinguish many I ewton puzzled over the nature of light and its rela its and light of nature the over puzzled Newton Isaac erstner pointed out the randomness of this mapping, claiming claiming mapping, this of randomness the out pointed erstner ver two centuries ago, dreamers started to imagine instru imagine to started dreamers ago, centuries two Over G ir tionship to sound. good as it is in the can. And that’s what I tried to do. good as it is in the can. And that’s what I tried to I knew a wise-guy who used to make fun of my painting, but but painting, my of fun make to used who wise-guy a knew I they said He either. Expressionists Abstract the like didn’t he be would if good they painters only could keep the as paint nd that’s what my grandfather witnessed each working day—the day—the working each witnessed my grandfather what nd that’s s a paint-mixer for the the for paint-mixer a s arl arl olor olor is an aspect essential of how we see the world. ears after having visited the mural, as as mural, the visited having after ears not not vice versa... and green, , want: they as spectrum the in color of shades K because spectrum the in colors seven saw “Newton that and notes the with them correlate to order in colors, seven see to of music—by creating instruments to make “color music.” instruments to make of music—by creating Newton associated each of the seven colors that scale. he saw in pris harmonic the of notes seven the with light matic inventors and artists since, that both are phenomena wave that frequencies. of range a over operate art the light—like of art an creating in interested became pioneers combinations and sequences of sounds. Color Scales S that that mankind’s fascination with visual instruments began with color. calm to color of sequences and combinations use would that ments with do musicians as much us, intrigue and confound us, delight us, else visual artists set out to do, they cannot get around the need need the around get cannot they do, to out set artists visual else to attend to color. Even the absence of it. it with constitutes a choice, dealing of way a is too, this, since paint “as good as it was in the can.” can.” the in was it as good “as paint C A Y work of artists, modern Batchelor’s Stella, quoted in David could could explain this reported temperament—though with color also played a role. spending so much time the the variety of colors that the expanding demands of early 20th century taste required. man. mellow a was he A long hours of each workday staring into large vats he where con into pigments basic few a transformed that dials and levers trolled 64 Glimpse www.glimpsejournal.com red, in both a physicalpsychologicalred,bothaa inand sense. Macdonald- A energetic.and powerful deep, is red heavenly;and and tranquil ethereal, is blue peaceful; and quiet agreement: close in are terizations of Many death incolor.” to approach nearest the and silence, sorrow, unhappiness, comprises which depression, I cry, a being as up gay... and young-girlish light, frivolous, is character, of depth no has “ colors: dozen a of meanings emotional W The painter quiet, the be expansive middleregister oftheviolin.” would green absolute acterizing t is the color of deepest deepest of color the is t nd nd right also characterized the the characterized also right K andinsky’s description of violet evokes evokes violet of description andinsky’s right’s charac Macdonald- Wright’s and Kandinsky Y V ellow is superficial, superficial, is ellow iolet, we might sum sum might we iolet, W Stanton Macdonald- ih’: “ right’s: 8 de profundisde V oe i tu a cooled-down a thus is iolet . would bethequiet, middle register of G “Absolute green reen is calm, is reen 7 expansive Kandinsky: Kandinsky: the violin.” I - t lishing parallelsbetween colorandsound. estab of challenge the underscore opinion of differences such girlish” thing we find in Macdonald-Wright’s characterization, and T high-pitched fanfare.” a of sound the or louder, and louder played being trumpet a of spirit. extinguished aboutit(likeaslagheap!).” therefore has something sad, an air of something sickly, something i dpcin f elw s ady h “rvlu, ih, young- light, “frivolous, the hardly is yellow of depiction his Upon such intensification, it affects us like the shrill sound

7 intensity unbearable to the eye and to the tones, [that could] be raised to a pitch of brighter the toward considerably inclines that color “a was yellow that believed he once at impudent and importunate.” sensibilities Furthermore, our upon an has effect which color, this in expressed power the of nature the revealing him, stimulating him, pricking spectator, the kind of geometrical form), is disquieting to some (in observed directly when “yellow, low is a different matter. But andinsky’s characterization of yel of characterization Kandinsky’s 7 He believed that - - volume 2.3 autumn 2009 Color 65 - A art’s felt right I right, H W he The got to got I W nstead, I 11 (1988), (1988), n 1919,n he I , 1704, Book udor- espite their T D ouvenir of the A Souvenir of the nd ussell wrote to A R Opticks Leonardo untington- H , 1844, 12; Helmholz: , 1844, 12; Helmholz: , he opens by arguing In a magnificent little right both pushed their W illard , 169; Belmont: I.J. Belmont, I.J. Belmont, , 169; Belmont: , which he first wrote about ussell, this took the form of form the took this Russell, W , 2004, UnMuseum, Contemporary Contemporary , 2004, UnMuseum, ussell and Macdonald- Colour-Music R

12 right’s response to the same basic right about his experiments: “ W hese were made into what he claimed W e actually designed several machines, T left off the synchromies in paint in synchromies the off left I H ynchromists’ paintings. S Twelve + Twelve The Future The of Future Painting Color The Forms of Kinetic Kinetic Light Machine tanton’s brother, ussell and Macdonald- S drew on the experiences of the pair to speculate about the future of art. book, that “modernist painting” has painting littleasit has come tobe understood. to do with it is an accident that its practitioners have been driven to use pigments on canvas. struggles and the challenges of experimentation with new materials, what these artists creat are off of the canvas. For canvas. the of off a in 1912. which were described in detail in his notebooks. central feature of all of his machines was the use of rheostats, devices that allowed a “coming and dying out” effect with Macdonald- light. that abstraction led to and had fiddled with bit.” a 1914 spring late and 1915-16 winter in them And in a later letter he concluded: “As a matter of when fact meddling with lights also, but never got funds or synchromies that inevitable was encouragement...It should lead to this [manipulation of light].” Macdonald- impulsetook slightlya different form. by three each pastels, thousand five over painted four feet. was “the first full-length, stop-motion film ever made in color.” art—an new a of creation the as efforts their saw art that differed from painting and dealt directly with time, movement and light itself. color triads, or colors separated on many of bases the formed degrees, the 120 by wheel color of the conviction that sound and light are perceived in their inspiration. analogous ways became R lifted it where point the to light and color in interest - - - - - , Vol. 2, 1962, 117; Bishop: Bainbridge Bishop, 117; Bishop: Bainbridge Bishop, , Vol. 2, 1962, o By T hey , 86; Rimington: Peacock, 402; Scriabin: Tom Douglas Jones, Peacock, 402; Scriabin: , 86; Rimington: T udor- ) pro ussell, 4 ishop Bishop R century, , 1927, 69; Jameson: D. D. Jameson, , 1927, 69; Jameson: th 209; Aeppli: Gerstner, 209; Aeppli: , Colour-Music Gerstner e referred to this he color theorist H T Colour-Music

9 , 1944, 226; Zieverink: Steve Zieverink, Steve Zieverink, , 1944, 226; Zieverink: right and Morganandright century, Michel Eugène W th ood’s theory of harmonious reatise on Physiological Optics on Physiological Treatise R hese advancements in color ishopturned their attention to , 1972, 104; Klein: Klein , 1972, 104; Klein: y the end of the 19 the of end the By T B 10 hile working in a yarn-dyeing fac yarn-dyeing a in working While , 1893, 11; Seeman: Klein, , 1893, 11; Seeman: Three Centuries of Color Scales. Courtesy of the author. Sources: Newton: Isaac Newton, Isaac Newton, Newton: author. Sources: of the Scales. Courtesy of Color Centuries Three stwald Ostwald (1921; cited in ainbridge uch of the effect of music has to do with the the with do to has music of effect the of uch simultaneous occurrence of multiple notes. B In the early 19 tanton Macdonald-tanton S art’sstudents, newstylefoundtoapainting of thers, though, have takenadvantagethers, fact though,the have of hevreul, hevreul, a French chemist and color theorist, he he intervals between the notes create conso Figure 2. Figure Color-Music,” to Perform Peacock “Instruments Kenneth VI, Problem 2; Castel: 1, Part II, Proposition Bernard Klein, 400; Field: Adrian Herman von Helmholz, Color Organ Color Art of Light & Dilemma in Art The Modern Arts Center, Cincinnati. H perception of each color is affected by its con text. C careful careful arrangement of his scale, he was able to capture many elements of musical consonance and dissonance. O rarelyperceivedcolorsthatisolation.are in exist instead in a world of other colors and our nances and dissonances. Wilhelm posed a system based on musical intervals. each musical interval (e.g. the minor second) he assigned a shade composed of two color tones (e.g. a reddish yellow and a greenish yellow). Color Harmonies M T udor- ynchromism, a movement dedicated to the physical T S called and emotional effects of color. harmonies and dissonances. inspiredtheory twoof Many theorists of the time—Ogden Rood and Percyval T vari of effects perceptual the them—investigated among Hart ous color combinations that would result in different visual example, a true green and red, or an and blue; butyellowishbluishor effecta green,the forchange greenif the we harmonious.” is much more how how color music could evoke harmony and discord. believed that “by carefully examining the scale it will be seen that a direct contrast of color comes in as a discord—for This notion of color context became prominent in the minds designers. instrument color of experimenterslike tory, he noticed that some colored yarn appeared different when seen in the context of other colors. as “simultaneous contrast.” occurrence studied this phenomenon. phenomenon. this studied 66 Glimpse www.glimpsejournal.com that using complementary pairs pairs complementary using that ment. comple color its of on side either colors the of one or ments, color with one of its near-comple a pairing from arise combinations color harmonious and soft that of “playing art light.” the in development tant impor an represents scale color R of Huntington-Wright’sessayopensthisway: art. a than decorative a like symphony, mance, perfor a of more is that art an is instruments color with ing tions was that “tonal value plays an important role in the inter dissonance). or (consonance intervals musical corresponding of effects the to similarity their for vals intervals of tonal music. I Lubar, for example, has explored color harmonies using Johannes dissonance. and harmony on focus to continues work B attend asymphonyconcert. that role the to sonance dis color of use the compared and light, of art developing the dissonances. and harmonies H color of construction the to S (value). ity the colors are neutralized, by reducing their saturation or tonal violet.” and yellow opposites, all of softest and red; and green violet; harshness: yellow-orange and blue-violet; yellow-green and red- and blue. orange use harsh less clash a For blue-green. and red-orange use desired is clash harsh a “if music. in that instructed Macdonald-Wright dissonance of lent equiva color the produce would tten’s to create color intervals analogous to the the to analogous intervals color create to wheel color tten’s sel n Macdonald- and ussell ynchromists provide a remarkably rich and musical approach approach musical and rich remarkably a provide ynchromists ecause they are such important musical concepts, current current concepts, musical important such are they ecause untington- painting, not only in impulse and conception, but in the the in but world’s attitudetowardit. conception, and impulse in only not painting, of art the from itself havedissociated entirelywill color of properly be conceptions art the medium new completionthis the of expressed.With creative artist’s modern the line. Onlywhensuchaninstrumenthasbeenperfectedcan aesthetic formal visually moods, any along artist’s emotions the and record desires to able be will but screen, a prettycoloredof squares,volutes on andlight coils, circles, throw merely not will future the of color-instrument The 8 L

ikewise, they discovered discovered they ikewise, he intensity of the clash or dissonance is reduced asreduced is dissonance or clash the of intensity The A 8 ll ll sets follow in of the complementaries order of their

W T aken together, these and other insights from the the from insights other and these together, aken right sensed the importance of these insights for insights these of importance the sensed right T heir heir scale revealed She went on to examine the color inter W 13 rights’ rights’ fortissimo - - - - making colorstran passages play when we we when play passages physicist, proposed Among Bertrand Castel,Bertrand a musical notesare. sient thewaythat Jesuit priestand In 1725...Louis ubar’s observa Lubar’s T he last chapter he chapter last K atherine atherine ------tinted tones. and grays of variety a achieve can artist the that add expressive capabilities to a visual instrument in way. musical T Color Tones ously itworksasacolorcombination.” interestingly/harmoni more the color], mentary “the closer an interval gets to the tritone [comple that and color” between intervals the of pretation free, andprobablycool,too.” magic of high voices: floating, light, youthful, care the with work, whole a up make alone they when the of those like colors, light tones. deep like mighty powerful, sonorous, tones. musical high and low to are comparable which have effects do actually ors this relationship by noting that “dark and light col G musical tone. to relationship direct fairly a have also can an which effect how achieving dark it appears, A dditionally, changes in the value of a color alter alter color a of value the in changes dditionally, ogh’s paintings and letters, letters, and paintings ogh’s musical chordsverywellindeed. of sensation the rendered together, nearly edges of the main colors blending together, or intoneutralshadestinted orgrays, withthe gradations by softened colors of binations shades or tinted grays did so; also, that com but a color softened by gradations into neutral didnotgive the sensation musicalaof tone, largely to how hues can affect emotion in a in emotion affect can hues how to largely relateharmonies and scales of discussions he vn dn a etnie nlss of analysis extensive an done Having - A C n attention to saturation is illustrated ously discussed. previ designers, instrument color earliest the of one of work the in I soon found that a simple color color simple a that found soon I quality tothelight: musical more a produce to helped tones gray tinted of use the that about experiments in which he found passed. light dows of various colors through which win glass stained expose to down blindspulledcontrols the music, ing ordinary organ. an screenatopwhitelarge aplaced B ontrolling saturation and value can can value and saturation ontrolling ainbridge ainbridge B I n 1893, n ishop’s color organ organ color ishop’s 15 K In addition to produc I urt urt mpressionists, act, act, mpressionists, 10 r clr are colors Dark B adt pointed to to pointed adt B ishop wrote ishop 14 - Van B ut ut ------Concluding Remarks 41fa-8d4d-b90aed364d44&lang=en&binary=/doc/ olor theory has not enjoyed the success that music theory OcuHarpsCastel.pdf) Chas. Consider, for example, the widely disseminated theory 6. Collopy, Fred, “Color, Form and Motion: Dimensions of the additive and subtractive varieties of . Additive/ of a Musical Art of Light,” Leonardo 33, No. 5, subtractive theory asserts that the rules by which colored lights 355-360 (2000). (complete text available at http:// combine are the inverse of those by which pigments combine. rhythmiclight.com/archives/bibliography.html). When the wavelengths on one color are added to another, they 7. Kandinsky, Wassily, On the Spiritual in Art and produce a color defined by the total. Similarly when one pigment Painting in Particular (Munich, 1912) In Kandinsky

is combined with another, it produces a color based upon the Complete Writings on Art, Lindsay, K.C. and Vergo, P. volume 2.3 autumn 2009 difference of their wavelengths. After describing some obvious eds. (New York: DaCapo Press, 1994) 183, 189, problems with the theory, Patricia Sloane concludes that, as with 180-181. much of , the idea has little more going for it than its 8. Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, A Treatise on Color, apparent elegance. “Additive/subtractive theory had acquired a (Los Angeles, 1924) 19-20, 23, 23-24. reputation for being scientific and technically unimpeachable, 9. Chevreul, Michel Eugene, The Principles of Harmony before it came to the attention of the editors of the Life science and Contrast of Colors, (1839), Excerpted in Primary series. The question, as often in color theory, is how so ill-con- Sources: Selected Writings on Color from Aristotle to ceived an idea survived for so long.”16 Albers, Patricia Sloane, ed. (New York: Design Press, Color 1991) 24-33. Still, the Synchromists, Bainbridge Bishop and the others have 10. Bishop, Bainbridge, A Souvenir of the Color Organ, managed to move us beyond the naïve mappings that dominated with Some Suggestions in Regard to the Soul of the discussions of color music for so long. In wrestling as they have, and the Harmony of Light (New Russia, NY, at the level of perceptual issues, they have provided clues about 1893) 10-11, 4. (complete text available at http:// 67 how we should proceed in our consideration and advancement of rhythmiclight.com/archives/index.html). this movement. 11. Kushner, Marilyn S., Morgan Russell (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1990) 105. In my own experience, one does tend to land in places that are 12. Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, The Art of Stanton harmonious or dissonant when following their guidelines. Macdonald Wright (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Gradations do seem more musical and interesting, and darkness Press, 1967) 22. and lightness can effectively reinforce sonorous or light passages 13. Huntington-Wright, Willard, The Future of Painting respectively. So, I continue to find inspiration in the work of these (New York: B.W. Huebsch, Inc., 1923) 51. (complete experimentalists and those who have followed them. Their efforts text available at http://rhythmiclight.com/archives/ to articulate how various color elements work, and to reflect on index.html). and write about their choices, provide guidelines that serve us 14. Lubar, Katherine, “Color Intervals: Applying well in the absence of a comprehensive theory of color. w Concepts of Musical Consonance and Dissonance to Color,” Leonardo 37, 127-132 (2004). 15. Badt, Kurt, Die Farbenlehre van Gogh, (Cologne, References Germany: DuMont Schauberg, 1961), as cited in Gerstner (see 4). 1. Batchelor, David, Chromophobia (London: Reaktion Book, 2000) 98. 16. Sloane, Patricia, The Visual Nature of Color (New 2. Klein, Adrian Bernard, Colour-Music: The Art of Light (London: York: Design Press, 1989) 328. (complete text Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1930). available at http://rhythmiclight.com/archives/index. 3. Peacock, Kenneth, “Instruments to Perform Color-Music: Two html). Centuries of Technological Experimentation,” Leonardo 21, No. 4, 397-406 (1988). (complete text available at http://rhythmiclight. com/archives/bibliography.html) 4. Gerstner, Karl, The Forms of Color: The Interaction of Visual Elements (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986) 168, 173. 5. Franssen, Maarten, “The Ocular Harpsichord of Louis-Bertrand Castel. The Science and Aesthetics of an Eighteenth-Century Cause Célèbre,” Tractrix: Yearbook for the History of Science, Medicine, Technology and Mathematics (1991) 15-77. (complete text available at www.tbm.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=1d0f8e1b-89e5-