I researched a whole lot of colours

by Tarald K. Tvedt 5:59 pm 0 comments Fine Art Maps and Networks Research Year 2

"try to think of a new colour"

What do colour means to us, and why?

"Notes on a page" (2016) by TJ Tvedt

For this unit I want to do a lot of research into colours, and why they mean what they mean to us. I mean, I feel like personally know they mean for me, but that might not be universal. I think a lot of people will have different connotations to the colour than me, just based of memory and experience. For me, red is the colour of anger and passion, but for someone else it could represent fire. This could be for number of reasons; maybe their house burned down. That's an extreme example, but you understand what I mean. 

BLUE.

Blue has been used in art and decorations since ancient times. It is a primary colour, and because it can create such a wide range of other colours by being mixed it has been heavily used for a long time, for an example in making up all the colours in screens. Blue has been used to represent the sky in paintings for as long as we have been able to dye stuff blue, and in modern times it has been used in flags that represent harmony and togetherness, like the European Union, and NATO. When asked through surveys people say that they associate with intelligence, harmony, coldness, distance, and sadness. It is also considered to be the most masculine colour, and dark blue is the most common colour for business suits. In Europe it was also chosen as their favourite colour by almost half the population. 

In modern times blue is considered a colour of royalty, which is ironic as in Greek and Roman times, blue was the colour of the working class. This was because blue was a colour that was quite difficult to make, and thus came into popular use lone after other colours like red, yellow, white, and black. It was also considered a barbaric colour as Julius Caesar reported that the Celts and Germans dyed their faces blue to frighten their enemies- quite a different meaning from today's "harmony". In Egypt on the other hand, blue was considered a divine colour as it was the colour the gods painted their faces to fly invisibly across the sky. This could be because Egypt had earlier access to blue, as it imported lapis lazuli from Afghanistan. I would not be surprised if these contradicting associations with blue are connected. The Roman Empire especially was famous for alienating every other nation that wasn't Roman, or "civilised", which would cause colours that for an example Egypt considered divine, to be uncivilised in Rome. 

But I think that the reason blue today is associated with tranquility, harmony, and sadness, is because of the sky. Staring up at it and its vastness you can feel calmer, but if you're sad already, it will only make you sadder. It is after all a very solemn colour, although I doubt you would feel calm if you had a barbaric Celt running towards you, screaming, with his face painted blue.

The Colour Circle

RED.

Red has been used in art for even longer than blue due to it being fairly simple to create. Iron oxide has long been used, and it is also what gives the Grand Canyon and Mars their colour. Because it is the colour of blood, red has since ancient times been associated with war, anger, passion, and sacrifice. The word red actually goes back to the Proto-Indo European word rewd, which is Because of this association with passion it was chosen as the colour for the ideologies communism and socialism - not to be confused with the original meaning of the Red Square in Russia, as red was considered to mean "beautiful" long before the Russian Revolution. But similarly, red was used to evoke passion during the French revolution, because they used a simple red colour as their banner. Red was used as early as the Egyptian Empire as make up to redden cheeks, and dye hair. 

YELLOW.

"Sunflowers" (1888) by Vincent Van Gogh

According to surveys in America, Europe, and Canada, yellow is the colour most often associated with amusement, gentleness, joy, happiness, but also envy, and jealousy. This duplicity of meaning took place because yellow became the colour associated with Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, in the Middle Ages and renaissance. This "trend" evolved into marking non-Christians with yellow, which in turn is the reason why Jews would have to wear a yellow star of David during the times of Nazi-Germany. 

Vincent Van Gogh was an especially fan of the colour yellow as he expressed that it reminded him of sunshine, although he also felt that the word "yellow" did not thoroughly enough explain the beauty of the sun - bright sulfur yellow, pale lemon gold. I have to say that I agree with him. I think yellow is a beautiful, very awake, colour. Because of this "awakeness" it is often used in warning signs. But even more so it reminds me of happiness, daytime, sunshine, and good memories. 
In China it is also seen as the colour of glory, and wisdom - which is funny, because in Europe more people associate wisdom and intelligence with blue. It is actually seen as a colour of nobility. Chinas compass has five directions; north, west, east, south, and the middle. Each direction is symbolised by a colour, and the middle is symbolised by yellow. China again is called the Middle Kingdom, and the Emperors palace is seen as the exact centre of the world. 

Thoughts:

I feel like I now know a whole lot about colours that I did not know before. Did I need this knowledge? I'm not sure, but either way, I know have it. One thing is for certain, this has given me a new perspective. I had no idea that one colour could mean such different things for people living around the world - how blue could be considered a divine colour in Egypt, while a worker class colour in Rome. But, although this is all very interesting, and knowledge that I might use in a future project/ future game of Trivial Pursuit, this specific project is very personal to me, and my own feelings. Therefore it is important that the representations of the colours I end up using are my associations, based on my experiences. So I'm sorry Egypt, you might think that blue is divine, I think it's loneliness and sadness, and that's what I'm going with. 


-TJ