Why We Gravitate Towards Certain Colors Part 3
Let’s talk a bit about color theory. When we speak of color theory it is important to remember that we are talking about a theory. Color theories have been evolving since antiquity and will continue on until the end of time. In fact if we go back to the time of Aristotle we see that he believed in a color scale that ranged from black to white with all of the other colors falling somewhere in between. Plato believed that mere mortals couldn’t understand the mysteries of colors at all, this was God’s territory alone.
It is not until we reach the period of the Renaissance that the modern day color wheel, like the one above, began to emerge. Sir Isaac Newton in his Treatise on Opticks was the first to begin speaking about color in this circular fashion. So all theories have a life span of sorts and are only held sacred until something else comes along to disprove them. I make this point only to try to get us to think outside of the accepted norm.
Did you know that Van Gogh studied piano in order to improve his painting technique? Kandinsky, an early twentieth century abstract painter was a syn-aesthete, a person who experiences a stimulus in more than one sense. He believed that he could hear color! Van Gogh’s teacher through him out of the class because he thought he was crazy, and you might think I am a little bit too, but follow me if you will on a little musical journey.
Have you ever seen a quiet color? Have you ever heard a color sing? Even though these statements don’t make logical sense you probably have some idea what I am talking about. So how are music and color connected? Quite simply a quiet color or one that sings is a color that is balanced and harmonious much like a finely crafted piece of music. Stay tuned.
