Colourandlight
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Departm en t of Art Aa lto- Ha r a ld Ar n kil (ed.) et a l. A r e colou r ed s ha d ows 'r ea l colou r s '? W ha t i s the d i f f er en ce b etween lightness and ADA Colour and Light – brightness? Can colour experiences be 2/ measured? The texts in this book are the 2015 Concepts and confusions result of a sub-project of SYN-TES: Human colour and light synthesis – towards a coherent field of knowledge, a r es ea r ch With an introduction by C.L. Hardin project involving five Nordic universities and several Swedish companies and Colou r a n d Light – Con cepts a n d con fu sion s institutions. The project was carried out in Harald Arnkil (ed.), Konstfack, Stockholm during 2010–11. Karin Fridell Anter, Ulf Klarén Colour and light play an important role in the fields of art, design and communication. In the built environment they influence our experiences and feelings, our comfort or discomfort and our physiological wellbeing. A profound understanding of the interaction between colour, light and human beings calls for an interdisciplinary approach, involving several highly specialized fields of art s ci en ce a n d techn olog y . Thi s b ook d elv es into the often confusing terminology of colour and light, aiming at clarifying their different usages and furthering understanding between researcher and practitioners. SCOLOURYN AND TE LIGHTS ISB N 978 -952-60-608 1-1 (pdf) BUSINESS + ISSN-L 1799-48 53 ECONOMY ISSN 1799-48 53 (pr in ted) ISSN 1799-48 61 (pdf) ART + DESIGN + Aalto Un iversity ARCHITECTURE Aalto Un iversity School of Arts, Design an d Architectu re Departm en t of Art SCIENCE + www.aalto.fi TECHNOLOGY CROSSOVER ART + RESEARCH REPORT DOCTORAL DESIGN + DISSERTATIONS ARCHITECTURE Aalto University publication series ART + DESIGN + ARCHITECTURE 2/2015 Colour and Light – Concepts and confusions With an introduction by C.L. Hardin Harald Arnkil (ed.), Karin Fridell Anter, Ulf Klarén Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture Department of Art SYN-TES Nordic Research Project Aalto University publication series ART + DESIGN + ARCHITECTURE 2/2015 © The authors and Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture ISBN 978-952-60-6081-1 (pdf) ISSN-L 1799-4853 ISSN 1799-4853 (printed) ISSN 1799-4861 (pdf) shop.aalto.fi Graphic design: Harald Arnkil and Jani Pulkka Images: Jani Pulkka and the authors Second edition Unigrafia Oy Helsinki 2015 Finland SYN-TES was funded by the Swedish Knowledge Foundation Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction C.L. Hardin ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Natural Experiences and Physical Abstractions – On epistemology of colour and light Ulf Klarén ............................................................................ 16 Knowledge about the world ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 17 Knowledge beside the world .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 19 Knowledge as part of the world .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 20 One world, several aspects .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Human aesthetic coherence ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25 What to do? .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29 Seeing and Perceiving Harald Arnkil ......................................................................................................................................................... 34 Training the eye ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 36 Seeing as a visual process ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 38 Attention ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40 The artist’s gaze ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 41 The parts and the whole ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 42 Light and Colour: Concepts and their use Karin Fridell Anter ................. 45 Light and colour as experienced through the senses ............................................................................................................ 45 Light and colour according to physical theory ......................................................................................................................................... 52 Using physics to describe experience ................................................................................................................................................................................... 57 Conclusions: What do we mean by ‘light’ and ‘colour’? .............................................................................................. 65 Lightness and Brightness and Other Confusions Harald Arnkil 67 Lightness and brightness 69 Attempts to systemize colour ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 76 Vividness of colour ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 84 The real colour of objects .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 92 About the authors ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 102 Further reading ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 103 Index ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 105 Foreword The experiences of colour and light are interdependent and cannot be ana- lysed separately. The colours of the environment influence our experiences of light and the need for lighting – and vice versa: the intensity, quality and distribution of light are essential for our perception and experience of colour. The aesthetics of colour and light play an important role in the fields of art, design and communication. In the built environment they influence our expe- riences and feelings, our comfort or discomfort and our physiological wellbe- ing. A profound