Subjective Color Project
Objectives: The majority of our projects this semester have studied the measurable relationships that exist between colors. By keeping this distance of objectivity, we have been able to draw empirical conclusions about the effects of color. Our final project will use a different skill set to explore the personal, or subjective, application of color. I will present a lecture about the history of European Expressionism in the early twentieth century. These were some of the first western artists to think about color as a compositional element that is capable of conveying emotion, independent of the imagery that it is used to represent.
Step 1: As a class, we will create word clouds that explore our personal relationships to color. Our personal experiences inform our individual reactions to color. A particular hue of green may remind you of pleasant spring afternoons spent reading in the park under leafy trees. For me, the same green may evoke stomach-churning childhood memories of having to clean thick layers of algae from my pet fish's tank (poor fish). To facilitate this exercise, I will project a series of colors. I will then ask the class to use their cell phones to text word associations for each projected color. Try to choose words that relate to emotional states rather than to physical objects or places (for instance, sad is an emotional state; eggplant is not). The resulting word clouds will display word frequency and illustrate the diversity of our subjective experiences with color. We will be able to reference these word clouds when planning for the project.
Step 2: Think about a particular event from your own life. This can be something as common as spending time with friends or remembering a familiar place. Your memory may also relate to a personal milestone such as experiencing a death, a birth, the beginning of a relationship, etc... It will not be necessary for you to share this narrative with the rest of the class, but it will be important to keep in your mind while working on this project.
Step 3: Come up with a color palette that describes the feelings or mood surrounding your chosen memory. You will need to select a palette of four expressive colors that you will feature in your project. There can be more than four colors in your composition, but your chosen palette should take up roughly 80% of your total composition. You may draw on existing symbolic associations (i.e. red=warmth & passion; blue =coolness & melancholy; etc…), or you may create your own personal associations. Since we are dealing with subjective interpretation, there are no incorrect comparisons. Reference back to the word clouds that we created as a class. You may find a classmate's interpretation that you wish to incorporate into your own vernacular of subjective color.
Step 4: Decide on a level of abstraction with which you will express your narrative. Abstraction can be defined plainly as any distortion or exaggeration of reality. This may involve assigning arbitrary or unnatural colors to recognizable figures, objects or environments (like Derain or early Picasso), or it may involve the simplification or distortion of such forms (like Kirchner or Matisse). You may also choose to create a non-objective composition of color forms that exist as independently expressive elements (like Kandisky or Mondrian).
A minimum of six hour investment is required for this project. You may choose to work with collage, painting or Photoshop. If you are working with collage or painting, your support must be at least 16”x20”. If you are working from the computer, your image dimensions must be set to 11” x 17” at 72 dpi, and you must print at 11” x 17” tabloid-size paper.
Examples of Early 20th Century European Expressionism:
Pablo Picasso
Andre Derain
Henri Matisse
Wasilly Kandinsky
Examples of Early 20th Century European Expressionism:
Pablo Picasso
Andre Derain
Henri Matisse
Wasilly Kandinsky
