1.6.3.5.5.5 Late Baroque. 1.6.3.5.5.5.1 Johann Sebastian Bach. 1.6.3.5.5.6 Roccoco/Gallant. 1.6.3.5.5.6 19th century. 1.6.3.5.5.7 20th century. 1.6.4 Recordings.
How the Two Come Together Non nobis
Creative use of colour and sound have many common elements in the realms of cause and effect. For some people, music can call forth visions of patterns of different color. Some manage to turn a low frequency chant into a vision of thousands of lotus blossoms, waiting to be counted. This brief note will concern itself with color combination, such as yellow and red and how it effects a person one way in contradistinction to purple and warm green effecting in an entirely different manner. It could just as well as be about musical harmony, however, gauged therein by consonance and dissonance. Colour and sound are the main sensual engredients in what is proclaimed “Art”. Some have asked for a definition of 'art', what causes one thing to be termed an object of art and not another. Those who produce that which is called great art, in all likelihood never thought of their work in such an exalted way until the 19th century1 with all its romantic pretensions over man’s creative impulse as deified genius artistè. We do need an umbrella grouping for an entire range of human activities, from the drawings on cave walls and freight cars to splendid cathedrals, temples, and mosques2, not to mention airports (Eero Saarinen where are you now that we need you?). One must accept this word, 'art', in the same category as 'love' and 'god', all very convenient terms to use in serious conversation, but also seriously underdefined and, dare I say, ambiguous. I will, in the following, describe the creation and development of an idea, a visualisation, over the span of 48 years and counting. This document will describe in detail how one goes about making the images contained in the document as well as the currently incomplete painting which is the reason for this exercise. Is any of this art? That doesn’t matter at this point although I hope to do a competent enough job on the painting that people will want to reproduce it and otherwise remember. Once one has a coherent visualisation, work can be nothing more than a perseverative drudge, already having decided on what and when. Yet there are other times when something seems incorrect and what is done to correct it can take a great deal of careful thought and creative adjustment. Why “the Two Come Together”? This work is about how color combinations behave and two colors coming together are basic. Some are contrasts, some are quite
similar; some are consonant, some are dissonant. All in aggregation make rhythmic texture.
Why do we Make Pictures? The other question is why the exercise is needed in the first place. Just as one might feel the need to express some verbal thought, one might just as well express/ emit a visual or aural image from the mind using various physical means of depicting color and form for vision or specific sound sources for aural mental formations. That we talk to express ourselves seems less involved than using a medium that requires skill and practice with which to actually communicate such as playing a musical instrument or painting in oils. Nevertheless, the process has the same semiotic content. “Because one of the problems of semiotics is to say whether and how we use signs to refer to something, and a great deal has been written on this. But I do not think that semiotics can avoid another problem: What is that something that induces us to produce signs?”3 I believe one can paraphrase this as, “Philosophy has yet to address the nature of motivation for creative acts”. Of course, central to any discussion of what we might think constitutes art is this very question: Why do we humans produce signs? What motivates us humans to make these visual or aural signs.4 For all that, this statement is entitled “How the Two Come Together” not “Why did we place those colours where we did”. Can one talk of one and not the other?
Inception Early 1968 was a time of great excitement and creativity, not just for myself but an entire movement for social change. I lived as a part of the dream of a bright future for all. These few words are meant to provide some idea of the group mind. While living near Notting Hill Gate in London, where I had moved in February, I did a few oil pastels with very bright colors. ‘Figure 1. Where did the swans go?’ is from that time but sadly is damaged enough to be useless for professional promotion. It, however, provides an idea about the style of execution of another, similar work in the same media, which, while missing, I would nevertheless like to submit for your consideration. During my time in London, I was more productive as a graphic artist than I have been since. Why that should be so might have something to do with our
enthusiasm. That manner of hope for mankind was quickly dashed. The result was rioting, and assasinations which when seen from Europe at the time were particularly horrifying. I remember those dark green busses parked outside the Sorbonne, as well. London however, had a different outlook, more peaceful, and certainly colorful. Amazingly since London itself is not always that colorful and since they sprayed the streets in those days, it had a rather medicinal spell of Carbolic. I remember arriving from the Boat-Train and seeing a big billboard that read “Take Courage” and thinking that was OK. As a group there in the far Portabello Road, we always felt there was a more healthy and joyous manner of being. It was in this world that I discovered the Maya. Theirs was a very different culture, as scientists, as accountants, but mostly for that most intense visual pebble-like writing system. Since I grew up in a geographic locale much closer to Central America, one might wonder why the discovery needed to be made at such a remove. Two things, really: the British Museum and a copy of Michael Coe's “The Maya” at the Westbourne Grove Library. I saw those Yaxchilan lintels in the British Museum (the home of the best loot of empire) and I got a peek at their universe and was moved thereby; it’s happened to other, more notable, art historians5. I had already been interested in the heiroglyphic writing of Ancient Egypt, a system that included not only information about the sound of the words, not just the visual amplification of meaning within the pictographic representation for the wordsound itself, but of additional non-verbal pictographic elements such as determinatives. Now I began to see another such system with an, altogether different way of saying things, and a culture with a very, very different way of looking at things, of viewing the very meaning of life. Stylistically, I began to make rhythmic patterns. That I think shows the bare beginnings of influence of Maya writing. That repeating motion from one side to the other. Before this I did odd topologies but often now I put colorful rhythms on carefully spaced topographic representations. The obsession with pure color I had all along.
Figure 1. Where did the swans go? This piece’s sad state preserved it from being included in a collection of matted and framed work which was stolen in the Haight-Ashbury in 1974. The other piece, the subject of this note was, one supposes, pleasing to look at, with nice rhythmic motifs. It was one idea that I have wanted to revisit and so I have, but considerably extending the pattern scope and sophistication of shape. The missing item’s challenge (and that of the present elaboration) is to confuse the usual perception of what is background and what is seen as foreground; keeping both foreground/background designs a simple chromatic spectrum. That the eye immediately connects yellow to orange solidifies ones sense of separate but cohesive patterns in negative and positive spaces. An early computer drawing, which I called a ruleset, done prior to starting the subject painting shows some of how the original appeared but the original was flowing, not checkerboard. As shown below in ‘Figure 2 Ruleset’, depending on whether the motion is seen from right to left, the crease consumes foreground colour, while when seen from left to right, it appears to push color across the background. In one direction, the foreground is the origin of the spectral design changes, while in the other, the background becomes the origin.
Figure 2. Ruleset That crease spoken of previously is in fact a region of ambiguity between background and foreground, the shapes and tints become (in the above instance) identical. The following explores further enhancing ambiguity by having nearly identical but still visually distinct objects and spectral elements. And now we see the side ambiguities for the first time as well.
Figure 3. Pattern Guide for Maelstrom The side ambiguities are of course necessary: what one produces, another must consume.
Methodology In this project it was necessary to be able to treat color as a numerically quantifiable entity. It seemed best that the color be clean and saturated. The standard color model of Hue, Saturation, and Brightness was chosen because it provided a mostly consistent color gradient with the least amount of arithmetic. Next was to make a pattern that arranged and dissarranged all various colour
combinations and to assemble a complete chart of the color placement at any point in the diagram:
Figure 4. Chart of 2 colour combinations Next, after developing a chart of color combinations, one derives an additional chart which separates background shapes from forground. Larger foreground shapes are used in areas of the greater similarity in hue and smaller shapes where the contrast in hue is the greatest. A simple version of this is provided in ‘Figure 2. Simple Form Ruleset’ and a chart for the entire painting is seen in ‘Figure 3. Pattern Guide for Maelstrom’. The full pattern is shown in ‘Figure 5. Complete repeating pattern’.
Figure 5. Complete repeating pattern In exploring contrast in hue, we can also see in Figure 3. that contrasting elements do so not just in hue but in most cases, also the brightness parameter. That can be a problem: all color values had the same brightness parameter value, yet our eye's tell
us, for example that the cyan or yellow in use is brighter than the blue or magenta shapes, despite the fact thet said brightness is numerically uniform. The effect is not merely a matter of perception: in ‘Figure 6 Pattern Guide for Maelstrom in greyscale’, Figure 3. has been converted to a grey scale representation and one can clearly see that the contrast in brightness is not merely psychological. This will appear one way on the computer screen but what happens when we make a hard copy print of the work? If one is reading from a printed page (as is my personal preference), one is seeing an entirely different sort of color than those reading on a computer or television screen. On the video screen, we are seeing what is called emittive color: your eyes are receiving the colored light information directly from the source (the 'emitting' entity). Seen on a page, the color origin is called reflective, that is, the source of color information is light reflecting off (or illuminating) the page. There is also the manner of passing white light through a selective light absorbing medium. It's not much different than the emittive model: white light (or all possible colors) and a film that allows color of a particular wavelength to pass through but not anything else. This is the nature of photography and moving pictures, at least as were done until we made electrons do everything. One might characterize this as ""reductive"".
Figure 6. Pattern Guide for Maelstrom in greyscale
The problem of translating color hue into pigment is further complicated by the unequal way in which the brightness parameter works on different hues. If one were to try to create a field of uniform grey from a full color depiction, one would need to desaturate, in particular dark blue, but red as well (to a lesser extent) as well as darkening (the ‘B’ parameter in ‘HSB’) cyan (turns grey) and yellow (turns brown). The result would be a more or less uniform field of medium brightness brown, blue and grey. The distinction between formal definition (e.g. H:60. S:100, B:100 for yellow) and what is rendered and the perceived by human eyes is important to keep in mind because, while I am presently writing this, and you may also be reading this, as it appears on a video display screen, my intent is (not just in presenting this information in some form of greater latency than electrons and photons alone can provide) but to explain the painter’s core problem, that is, turning visualised colour into some form of pigment.
Figure 6. Complete pattern in greyscale Industries involved with color usage have with the advent of computer aided design, developed a number of different models for converting emittive representation to reflective with a great deal of success both in translating display color to print but they also are able to use full colour for advertising cheaply and easily.
Something to Consider And what a wonderful problem it is, turning an idea of colour into pigment, leading to painters alchemy, no doubt. Take for example Orpiment.
7
Figure 5a The Alchemical Symbol
Figure 5b. the mineral's physical appearance8 9
Orpiment: As2S3 (Arsenic Sulfide) ⁃
“Orpiment was traded in the Roman Empire and was used as a medicine in China even though it is very toxic. It has been used as a fly poison and to tip arrows with poison. Because of its striking color, it was of interest to
⁃
alchemists, both in China and the West, searching for a way to make gold. “For centuries, orpiment was ground down and used as a pigment in painting and for sealing wax. It was one of the few clear, bright-yellow pigments available to artists until the 19th Century. However, its extreme toxicity and incompatibility with other common pigments, including lead and copper-based substances such as verdigris and azurite, meant that its use as a pigment ended when cadmium yellows, chromium yellows and organic 10
dye-based colors were introduced during the 19th Century” . Here’s a very popular painting of Altdorfer’s showing it’s manner of application and the warm glow it can create.
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Figure 6. Albrecht Altdorfer Ascension of Christ
Prior to the 19th century, This was how one used warm colour of a certain degree of saturation. In general the only blending on the cold side of yellow transition, only Cerulean Blue was found to mix properly. The advent of Cadmium yellows and reds has made life a good deal easier. And as can be seen in Figure 9. below, they do make a splash on warm spectra.
The Details Giving some manner of evidence of our thoughts, emotions, even entire ideas, is often called art. But to the one providing the evidence, it doesn’t so much matter what it’s called as long as some other understands the evidence for how it was meant and engages with whatever the object represemts; be it an attempt to portray reality or simply decorate it. Man’s attempts at self expression date so far back, it is the nuts and bolts of paleo anthropology. Perhaps the earliest objects d’art were tools chipped from various rocks and shards of pots made to hold food and drink. Certainly old pots and arrowheads are favorites amoung collectors. We also have evidence of rock and cave painting from throughout mankind’s history. The next means of expression were the result of written language which in original forms surely perished, as man developed other means such as buildings which needed decoration. Words and pictures eventually became pictures only That the newer innovations in personal expression have not really developed as persistent, makes these older expressive means the only ones that will endure.
Then came the very first cathode ray tubes in the 1920's which became the basis for radar displays, arrival departure screens, and ... television. And then computers began to be prevalent. There might be a video terminal for plain text, but more likely there is nothing but a maintenance panel, punch card reader, or paper tape reader. In those early days it was possible to enter instructions directly from the maintenance panel. The input/output devices from those days are now almost forgotten. It wasn't until the 1980's that the video display became more than simple text displays. It was about this time that Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, Apollo and others became cutting edge devices for analysis. The displays were quite attractive but lack of color hard copy restricted their usefulness and it is only recently that computer printing has become capable of book and magazine quality. Devices of the CRT variety create a full gamut of color with separate red, green, and blue sources. But then again these and their children: LED's, Plasma, LCD's etc., all do the same thing in one way or another. And thanks to modern personal computers, we all can see for ourselves by setting some quaint colors on our wallpaper.
Actually Painting
Figure 6. the Maelstrom Between Man and Herself
Appendix A: Sample taxonomy of the term Art with special emphasis on Music Aggregates In the following decomposition of the term “art” into an aggregation of subject ideation, said decomposition is primarily of the Music (as analysts define it) problem domain. 1. Art 1.1 Museums 1.2 Painting 1.3 Graphic Art 1.4 Architecture 1.5 Sculpture 1.6 Music 1.6.1 Musicology 1.6.2 Music history 1.6.2.1 Organology 1.6.2.1.1 Museums & Collections 1.6.2.1.2 examples and construction 1.6.2.1.3 instrument makers 1.6.2.1.3.1 Historic 1.6.2.1.3.2 contemporary 1.6.2.1.4 making copies 1.6.2.1.5 measuring 1.6.2.1.6 measurement 1.6.2.1.7 care 1.6.2.2 Medieval 1.6.2.3 Renaissance 1.6.2.3.1 Franco-Flemish 1.6.2.4 Early Baroque 1.6.2.4.1 Venice 1.6.2.4.2 Rome 1.6.2.4.3 Milan 1.6.2.4.4 Saxony 1.6.2.4.5 Habsburg 1.6.2.4.5.1 Early Atonality 1.6.2.5 Late Baroque 1.6.2.5.1 Paris 1.6.2.5.2 N. Germany 1.6.2.5.2.1 Sebastian Bach 1.6.2.5.3 England 1.6.2.5.4 Gallant 1.6.2.6 Canonic 1.6.2.6.1 Romantic 1.6.2.6.2 Modern 1.6.2.6.3 Post Modern 1.6.2.7 Popular 1.6.2.8 World 1.6.3 Music Theory 1.6.3.1 Common Practice Harmony 1.6.3.2 Counterpoint 1.6.3.3 Harmony 1.6.3.4 Orchestration 1.6.3.5 Performance 1.6.3.5.1 Repertory 1.6.3.5.2 Interpretation 1.6.3.5.2.1 Historic 1.6.3.5.2.2 Modern 1.6.3.5.3 Music Craft 1.6.3.5.4.1 Oboe/bassoon 1.6.3.5.4.1.1 Reed making 1.6.3.5.4.2 Flute 1.6.3.5.5 Musical text 1.6.3.5.5.1 Medieval 1.6.3.5.5.2 Early Renaissance 1.6.3.5.5.3 Late Renaissance 1.6.3.5.5.4 Early Baroque 1.6.3.5.5.4.1 Johann Hermann Schein 1.6.3.5.5.4.2 Heinrich Schütz
1.6.3.5.5.4.2 Heinrich Schütz 1.6.3.5.5.5 Late Baroque 1.6.3.5.5.5.1 Johann Sebastian Bach 1.6.3.5.5.6 Roccoco/Gallant 1.6.3.5.5.6 19th century 1.6.3.5.5.7 20th century 1.6.4 Recordings 1.6.4.1 Medieval 1.6.4.1.1 Pilgrim 1.6.4.1.2 Minnesang 1.6.4.1.3 Mystic 1.6.4.2 Early Renaissance 1.6.4.3 Late Renaissance 1.6.4.7 Early Baroque 1.6.4.7.1 Venice 1.6.4.7.2 Saxony 1.6.4.7.3 Hapsburg lands 1.6.4.7.4 Paris 1.6.4.7.5 England 1.6.4.8 Late Baroque 1.6.4.8.1 Italy 1.6.4.8.2 England 1.6.4.8.3 Germany 1.6.4.8.3 France 1.6.3.9 Classical 1.6.3.10 Romantic 1.6.3.11 Early Atonality 1.6.3.12 Modern 1.6.3.13 Other 1.6.3.13.1 Ethnic 1.6.3.13.2 Christmas 1.6.3.13.3 Blues 1.6.3.13.4 HIP 1.7 Crafts 1.8 Jewelry 1.9 Weaving 1.10 Woodwork 1.11 Glass 1.12 Metallurgy 1.13 Art history 1.13.1 Movements 1.13.2 Collecting
Notes 1. For a fairly tedius example of self-imagined artistè, see Odillon Redon’s To 2.
Myself. I do still fancy his work even so. See Appendix A for a sample taxonomy, primarily for Music
3. 4.
Umberto Eco, Kant and the Platypus One should mention other art forms such as cuisine but senses such as
5.
aroma or touch, are much harder to figure in their aesthetics. Linda Schele was trained as an art historian and became a leading Mayanist.
6. 7. 8.
Rudolf Koch, Das Zeichenbuch Ins Insel Verlag Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpiment) This is the sort of thing, alchemists used to say, that weeded the out the
9.
careless … or simply the unlucky." Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpiment)
10. 1527; Tempera on wood; Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland 11. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_display_technology) 12. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube 13. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_graphic_design) 14. Michael Coe, The Maya, Praeger
