"INTERACTION OF COLOR" BY JOSEF ALBERS
What do you know about colour, kittens?
Here on the kitten life, we dabble in colour theory under the heading Chromotherapy, one of Nico's passions and foundation for her art.
Today, here is an excerpt from 'Interaction of Color' (1971) by Josef Albers to give you some food for thought in one of our first posts about colour theory that we hope to make a trend.
"If one says "Red" (the name of a color) and there are 50 people listening, it can be expected that there will be 50 different reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different.
Even when a certain color is specified which all listeners have seen innumerable times- such as the red of the Coca-Cola signs which is the same red all over the country- they will still think of many different reds.
Even if all the listeners have hundreds of reds in front of them from which to choose the Coca-Cola red, they will again select quite different colors. And no one can be sure that he has found the precise red shade.
And even if that red Coca-Cola sign with the white name in the middle is actually shown so that everyone focuses on the same red, each will receive the same projection on his retina, but no one can be sure whether each has the same perception.
When we consider further the associations and reactions which are experienced in connection with the color and the name, probably everyone will diverge again in many different directions.
What does this show?
First, it is hard, if not impossible, to remember distinct colors. This underscores the important fact that the visual memory is very poor in comparison to our auditory memory. Often the latter is able to repeat a melody heard only once or twice.
Second, the nomenclature of color is most inadequate. Though there are innumerable colors- shades and tones- in daily vocabulary, there are only about 30 color names.”
And it begs the question... what's your favourite colour? And when you think of it, does the same shade come to mind every time? Could you pick it out of a lineup of similar Pantone hues?