Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Color of Cool: September's Smithsonian Magazine

September's Smithsonian arrived in the mail this week. Wow, what a fascinating issue for artists or anyone who's drawn to learning about color! There's an amazing story about a 1600 year old Roman chalice that changes colors -- it goes from pale green to bright red -- thanks to the early Romans' use of nanotechnology. (Yes, you read that right: nanotechnology.)

There's another story on poison frogs whose colors rival those of neon signs. And a piece on an inventive British artist, Jaz Parkinson, who creates "color charts" that correspond to the number of times a book or play refers to a color. Who knew Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage could be so visually compelling?

To blow your mind, take a look at the photos featured on page 15. They're from a series of art installations called the RGB project by Carnovsky (a duo from Milan).  These artists use colored filters on LEDs to conceal and reveal imagery in their striking murals.

There's also an excellent in-depth article about the always-colorful David Hockney, a not-to-be-missed read that will have you mesmerized. Plus curious tidbits that tie into the question of what color to paint a room. (Hint: don't use purple if you suffer from insomnia.) Actually, this issue is so loaded with topics and insights we artists can appreciate there are just too many to name. Locate a copy, pour yourself a big glass of iced tea, settle into a comfy chair and enjoy!


1 comment:

  1. Looks like a good article, thanks for pointing it out.

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