exploration | introduction to “interaction of color”

I believe that art education is important and I don’t think you have to learn it at a fancy art school. If curriculums are based off books, why not just study the books directly?

Randomly, I started my art education with the book, “White”, by Kenya Hara. With out a doubt, I have experienced a paradigm shift and started to appreciate the subtleties with the concept of white. Next, I encountered the book “Interaction of Color” by Josef Albers. For its time, this book was radical, controversial and different. According to Amazon reviews, this book is a classic and I picked up the 50th anniversary edition. Although Josef teaches his theories of color through class exercises, the content was very dry and textbook like. I can not lie; it was a tough read. I definitely picked this book for shallow reasons; the book cover is aesthetically pleasing.

The first attempt at reading the book was horrendous. I felt overwhelmed by its obscurity and it felt like Josef was speaking another language. The reading felt methodical or I didn’t engage with it (it is highly recommended to do the exercises with physical colored paper.).

You know the first time you went inside an art gallery and you had no idea what was going on. By default, you’ll pose and stare like the others but you just want to “see” the next room. That is pretty much my experience with the book. Just staring up in the abyss, playing myself as a pseudo intellectual. Ultimately, I was not ready for “Interaction of Color” by Josef Albers.

However, I became more familiar with colors through the creation of the placeholder milne collection. Colors were always in the spotlight due to it being the only variable involved in the gif loop. After creating 1000 placeholder prototypes, I developed a deeper sense for color theory in a subconscious way. With less hesitancy, I made another attempt reading Interaction of Color. Note: I still didn’t do the exercises with the paper colors. Maybe in the near future, I should. But, I probably won’t. )

So, what did I learn or realize?

True value of color has no purpose for us. But, the relative value of color is where it all stands. Relative is how the color looks beside another color. Hence, the relativity of color. Josef even argues that color is the most relative medium.

Let me explain.

In our day to day, we never look at color just by itself. We don’t have the utility for it nor the luxury to study such a mundane thing. Maybe for UX professionals or painters who use colors to implement their art theories, it doesn’t make sense for the average Joe to notice that the wall paint is a certain type of “off-white”. An average Joe couldn’t care less. However, we use color to distinguish one thing from another. This is useful. This has been super useful for humans in general. For example, when you break an egg and a piece of shell comes off, you can immediately tell where the piece is. Its funny. At least for me, the relative theory of color is something I apply everyday but I can only provide that example. The relativity of color is something I definitely take for granted.

That was probably a horrible example but you kind of get my drift. No?

I want to continue on this series to continue my art education. Don’t worry. We won’t do exercises because you will not catch me doing it.

Feel free to tweet about my dismal art education ( I even had to google what dismal meant. I used it because it "felt" right).