Master’s Tesis TransArts Summer Semester 2014. Accompanying the Presentation of Colours by Jeroen P. Visser. T A!S"AT#!$ S#%& T' ('"')R A!* ('"') T' S#%& Jeroen P. Visser )ni+ersit,t -.r Angewan0te 1unst 2ien 3etreuers: Matthias Micha56a 7 oman P-efer. T A!S"AT#!$ S#%& T' ('"')R A!* ('"') T' S#%& Jeroen Visser )ni+ersit,t -.r Ange/an0te 1unst 2ien9 AT 0. A3ST A(T Tis paper /i55 0iscuss the basics o- co5our theory9 starting -rom !ewton’s 0isco+ery o- the spectrum to $oethe’s Teory of Colours an0 the /ay co5ours are used an0 0efned in mo0ern times, through $39 (M;1 an0 <SV systems. It /i55 -urthermore ta56 about co5our in art by a00ressing the systematic approach o- Josef Albers an0 his Interaction of Colours9 the more per-ormati+e actions o- ;+es 15ein an0 his International Klein Blue an0 the mythica5 Mar6 oth6o /ith his mu5ti-orms. Afer /hich # /i55 get into my o/n system o- translating si>e to co5our an0 co5our to si>e an0 its application. # /i55 conc5u0e /ith some in-ormation on my so5o?sho/ as part o- my gra0uation in June 2014. 1. #!T '*)(T#'! Since # /as not yet able to paint9 0ra/ or scu5pt # 0eci0ed that my best bet o- getting into art schoo5 /as to apply at the photography 0epartment o- the oya5 Aca0emy o- @ine Arts in Ant/erp, 3elgium. Photography a5/ays ha0 a strange position -or me9 nicely :tted bet/een the :el0 o- applied an0 :ne art. 2e /ere encouraged to +isit a number o- photography museums9 most o- /hich sho/ed some -orm o- 0ocumentary photography9 I enAoyed the museums o- mo0ern art a 5ot more ho/ever. Te on5y type o- photography that /as sho/n there, it seemed9 /as conceptua5. It /as -rom that point on that # started -ocusing on a more conceptua5 practice. Te goo0 thing about photography is that it gi+es you the opportunity to +isua5i>e your concept extremely Cuic65y9 thereby gi+ing you a chance to chec6 ho/ interesting a concept /ou50 actua55y be in the en0. I thin6 this ga+e me a goo0 sense o- /hich i0eas /ere /orth pursuing. 'ne o- my -a+orite habitats /as the museum9 an0 as such # /or6ed a 5ot /ith things seen an0 -oun0 /ithin the /hite cube o- the mo0ern exhibition space. My :na5 bachelor sho/ /as an assortment o- /or6s 0ea5ing /ith this topic. I sho/ed photographs o- empty museums, c5aiming that even i- 5ef empty the +iewer /ou50 sti55 :n0 something o- interest. # con0oned o8 a portion o- the exhibition space /ith p5astic an0 a00ed some 0ri55ing noises to ma6e it seem 5i6e there /as construction going on behin0 it9 to brea6 this ‘ho5y’ character o- the per-ect /hite cube an0 to suggest that this /as not my :na5 sho/9 an0 that I /as, in -act9 /or6ing on some new /or6s at the moment. An0 # pro0uced tit5e car0s exact5y the same as the ones being used by the Museum o- Mo0ern Art in Ant/erp an0 # placed them there to a00 D)ntit5ed’ /or6s to the exhibition. A=er gra0uating I -elt I /as stuc6 in this Dart about art’ practice9 so /hen # started stu0ying at the )ni+ersity o- Applied Arts in Vienna. # 0eci0ed # /ou50 ta6e my practice into a new 0irection by -ocusing more on an aspect o- art /ith /hich # /as not too concerned before, (o5our. 2 2. ('"') T<&' ; E <#ST' #(A" 3A(1$ ')!* Some o- the :rst principles o- co5our theory appear as ear5y as the 1Fth century9 notably in the noteboo6s o- "eonar0o 0a Vinci. Tese /ere main5y Aust notes ho/everG a :rst rea5 theory o- co5our /as -ormu5ated -o55o/ing Isaac !ewton’s 0isco+ery o- the spectrum. In his -amous experiment9 the ‘experimentum crusis’ Hcrucia5 experimentI !ewton used prisms an0 sun5ight to pro+e that /hite 5ight /as composed o- co5oured 5ight J1K. 2.1 !&2T'! H1L42 E 1M2MI @igure 1 sho/s !ewton’s set up -or the experiment in 1LLF. Te ho5e in his /in0o/ H@I a55o/ed a beam o- sun5ight H'I to -a55 onto the :rst prism HA3(IG the spectrum o- 5ight HpqrstI is -ocused by a con+ex 5ens an0 passed through a secon0 prism H*&$I9 /hich in turn pro+es that the prism 0oes not ‘co5our’ the 5ight as /as believed previously. Te secon0 prism reconstituted the spectrum as a beam o- /hite 5ight H;I /hich then /ent through a thir0 prism H<#1I an0 split again into the spectrum HPN STI captured by a /hite screen H"VI J2K. <is paper DTeory about "ight an0 (o5ours’ in the Royal Society’s journal, Philosophical Transactions contained his :n0ing an0 appeared in 1LM2. #n 1M04 his ‘ pticks, Teory of Colour’ /as pub5ished. !ewton believed the spectrum /as ma0e up o- seven primary co5oursG red9 orange9 yel5o/9 green9 blue, in0igo9 an0 +io5et. <e chose these seven co5ours because he believed there /as a connection bet/een the co5ours, the musica5 notes HA9 39 (9 *9 &9 @9 an0 $I9 the 0ays o- the /eek9 an0 the by then 6no/n number o- planets in the so5ar system JOK. 2.2 M'S&S <A #S H1MO0 E 1MPPI Aroun0 one hun0red years 5ater9 bet/een 1MLL an0 1MM09 Te "atural System of Colours appeared9 in /hich &ng5ish entomo5ogist Moses <arris ta56s about a system to create -urther co5ours -rom three ‘primary’ Hsometimes ca55ed ‘primiti+e’I co5oursG red9 yel5o/9 an0 blue. <e proposed that these three co5ours contain a55 the hues an0 teints that can be -oun0 in the 0i8erent objects o- nature. He published the :rst completely symmetrica5 an0 complementary co5our chart H@ig. 2I9 the :rst ever o- its 6in0 to appear in -u55 co5our J4K. His /heel contained three primary co5oursG red9 yel5o/ an0 b5ue, an0 three secon0ary co5oursG orange9 green an0 purple9 thus eliminating !ewton’s seventh co5ourG in0igo. Tis miBing o- co5ours ha0 5ong been 6no/n to printers, 0yers an0 painters9 but they usua55y preferred pure pigments instea0 o- co5our miBtures9 because the miBtures /ou50 ofen turn out too 0u55 J1K. 2.O $'&T<& H1M4Q E 1PO2I #n 1P10 the $erman /riter9 poet an0 scientist Johann 2o5-gang +on $oethe published his boo6 #ur $arbenlehre HTeory o- (o5ours). 2here !ewton approached co5our so5ely -rom a physica5 point o- +iew9 $oethe ta56ed about the sensations o- co5our. He believed more in a 0ua5ity o- 5ight an0 sha0o/. He /rites ‘yel5o/ is a 5ight /hich has been 0ampened by 0ar6ness, blue is a 0ar6ness /ea6ened by the 5ight’ JFK. <e -urthermore tried to -ormu5ate ho/ co5ours a8ect our moo0G he 5in6ed purple to -antasy an0 imagination9 red to beauty an0 yel5o/ to Dgoo0’ an0 a -eeling o- un0erstan0ing9 green /as consi0ered Dusefu5’. 3 &+en though $oethe’s /or6 /as rejected by physicists it infuenced a number o- phi5osophers9 most notably "u0/ig 2ittgenstein an0 Arthur Schoppenhauer9 the 5atter /ou50 publish &%er das Sehn und die $arben H'n Vision an0 (o5ourI in 1P1L in /hich he 5in6ed $oethe’s theory to the action o- the retina. Artists /ere a5so infuenced by $oethe’s boo6. 3ritish painter J.M.2. Turner stu0ied it comprehensi+ely an0 even referenced it in the tit5es o- severa5 paintings. Turner’s pairing o- paintings Shade and (arkness – the *+ening of the Deluge an0 Li,ht and Colour ./oethe’s Teory) ) the 1orning afer the Deluge ) 1oses 3riting the Boo! of /enesis H@ig. OI i55ustrates use o- co5our as a means o- contro55ing 5ight an0 0ar6ness. 2assi5y 1an0insky /as another artist /ho explicit5y referred to $oethe’s theory9 both in his 5ectures at 3auhaus Schoo5 in 2eimar9 an0 in many o- his 0ra/ings JLK. O. ('!T&MP' A ; ('"') T<&' ; )p to this point people consi0ered red9 yel5o/ an0 blue H ;3I to be the primary co5ours9 but in 1MQ0 Herman +on <elmho5t> an0 James (5er6 MaB/el5 0isco+ered that red9 green an0 blue H $3I /ere in -act the three primary co5ours o- 5ight. Te ;3 co5our system /as based on the miBing o- pigments9 red an0 yel5o/ /ou50 combine to -orm orange, but this /ou50 not ho50 true -or the miBing o- co5oured 5ight. So it /as c5ear /e needed separate systems to 0efne the creation o- co5our by 5ight an0 the creation o- co5ours by pigments9 0yes or in6. O.1 $3?S;ST&M E A**#T#V& ('"') #n the 1Pth century Tomas ;oung intro0uced a trichromatic co5our theory. <e proposed that our co5our +ision /as the resu5t o- three 0i8erent photoreceptor cel5s9 an i0ea that <erman +on Helmho5t> 5ater expan0ed on. #n 1QFL $unnar S+aetichin :na55y pro+i0ed physio5ogica5 evi0ence -or the trichromatic co5our theory JMK. #n the retina o- the eye there are three types o- cones9 each contain a 0i8erent photosensiti+e pigment that is especia55y sensiti+e to a certain /a+elength o- 5ight. Te three types o- cones are "9 M9 an0 S9 /hich ha+e pigments that respon0 best to 5ight o- 5ong Hespecia55y FL0 nmI9 medium HFO0 nmI9 an0 short H420 nmI /a+elengths respecti+ely H@ig. 4aIJPK. #n or0er to 0istinguish the 0i8erent co5ours the brain 0oes not on5y need the appropriate /a+elength but a5so a +a5ue -or its intensity9 this is achieved by comparing the input o- 2 or more cones. @or example, mo0erate stimu5ation o- an M cone cel5 cou50 mean that it is being stimu5ated by an intense red H5ong?/a+elengthI 5ight9 or by not +ery intense yel5o/ish?green 5ight.