A New Field Guide to Color has been developed to provide a kind of travel guide to aid in the exploration of color and light.

Color has emerged from the darkened closet of western culture to make its stunning debut in this brave new era. Color is mysterious and elusive. We can trace its play in virtually every facet of our daily lives. We can recognize color as a sensation of light ~ the narrow band of the vast electromagnetic spectrum detectable to the human eye. Wavelengths of light (measured in nanometers) enter our bodies, strike the complex organs of the eye, and signal a vast matrix of machinery en route to their integration into images, located deep in the theatre of the brain.

Color is charged with passion, romance, and high drama. Its emotional impact is so pervasive and strong that it frequently eludes our efforts to rein it in. It is known to be dependent on the presence of available light and on the texture of all material matter it encounters. In order to better communicate with each other, we owe it to ourselves to learn more of its multifaceted nature so that we can engage its powerful muse and tap into its poetic magic.

In order to locate ourselves on the color map and gain solid footing in this ever evolving field, we must commit to an investigation of color as an interactive, physiological, psychological, and cultural phenomenon. We will develop an awareness of the physical properties of color and light through our experiments with color in a studio/lab setting. We will also take a journey into the language of color, the history of color thinking, the relevance of color organizational systems.

Course Description