Color is best shown by an artist whose ideas and work can challenge others, creating thoughts and environments that we, the observers, could not see on our own, changing not only the physical space in front of us but also our own created mindset.

Below you will see installations from a culmination of 15 years of work from artist Olafur Eliasson as part of ‘Take Your Time‘ exhibition currently running at the Museum of Modern Art. Along with photographer Branislav Kropilak whose work includes stunning minimalist series of parking garages, trains, building lobbies, and airplane landings.

Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson

A culmination of 15 years of work and the first major exhibition of his work in the united states, Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson reaches out to us with questions about existence, morality and our constant search for understanding of ourselves and the world around us. He creates environments and situations that completely surround the observer, but without an observer do not stand on their own.

“We can take in our surroundings, but at the same time be critical about how we do it.”

I only see things when they move

Bright light shines through color-filtered glass panels, creating shifting prismatic bands of colors on the surrounding walls

360 degree room for all colors

Since the 19th century, painted panoramas have given viewers a sense of what it feels like to stand in faraway landscapes or participate in historic events. Rather than illustrating a particular scene, Eliasson’s installation immerses you in the color spectrum itself.

Color Spectrum kaleidoscope

A hexagonal kaleidoscope made of color-coated glass provides a multicolored, prismatic image of the world.

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We often find our breaths taken away by the presence of color in our everyday lives, and thankfully there are three times as many opportunities to celebrate it. While the carnivals of Brazil and New Orleans explode with vibrancy, there is something simpler and yet equally joyous about Holi, the festival of color that takes place in early March of each year in India and Nepal. It is also known as Phagwa, or in West Begal, Boshonto Utsav (meaning “Spring Festival.”)

by RichieWJA

India’s people believe that bright colors are synonomous with life, joy and positive energy. Holi is a day to celebrate these concepts, but it also holds other symbolisms as well (which seem to differ depending on what region the celebration is held in.) For some, Holi means celebrating the divine love of Lord Krishna and Radna (this is most popularly believed in Vrindavan and Mathura, where Krishna grew up.) The festival is celebrated for 16 days in the aforementioned areas (in some areas it is as short as six days.) There is a story that tells of Krishna complaining to his mother about his dark skin in contrast to Radna’s fair cheek, which Krishna’s mother addressed by applying color to Radna’s face, transforming her from starkly contrasting to brilliantly colorful.

by Matthieu :: giik.net/blog

A second story about Holi’s origins involves Kamadeva, the Hindu God of Love. Kama was destroyed by Shiva, but Shiva recreated his body as a mental image for sake of Kama’s wife. The concept behind this story is that Shiva gave Kama’s wife back the symbol of her emotional and spiritual devotion, which outweighed the importance of his physicality (the latter signifiying physical lust.) The Holi bonfire, which is traditionally held on the first night of Holi, is believed by some to pay homage to this story. Other believe in the bonfires as a recreation of the burning of the demoness Holika, for which the festival was named. This ritual is called “Holika Dahan.”

by freestyler


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With temperature extremes that reach negative forty degrees Celsius, and normal average temperatures that stay below zero for half of the year, Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province of China, is the perfect place to hold the most spectacular ice and snow festival. Bringing in artist from all over the world the annual Harbin Ice festival is one of the world’s four largest ice and snow festivals, along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival. It includes some of the most incredible ice carvings, sculptures, and structures that illuminate with color each evening for an entire month.

The festival first dates back to 1963, but the tradition of the Ice lanterns started during the Qing Dynasty, between the years of 1644 and 1911.

The Derivation Of The Ice Lantern

Photo by gadgetdan

The first Ice lanterns were a winter-time tradition in northeast China during the Qing Dynasty（1644 - 1911), the local peasants and fishermen often made and used ice lanterns as jack lights during the winter months. At that time these were made simply by pouring water into a bucket that was then put out in the open to freeze. It was then gently warmed before the water froze completely so that the bucket-shaped ice could be pulled out. A hole was chiseled in the top and the water remaining inside poured out creating a hollow vessel. A candle was then placed inside resulting in a windproof lantern that gained great popularity in the region around Harbin.

Photo by ianwhitfield

From then on, people made ice lanterns and put them outside their houses or gave them to children to play with during some of the traditional festivals. Thus the ice lantern began its long history of development. With novel changes and immense advancement in techniques, today we can marvel at the various delicate and artistic ice lanterns on display.

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Green is a well loved color when it comes to attention during the holidays. It is the accent to the red and white candy canes during Christmas… the color hidden under the cover of a witches hat on Halloween… but no holiday lets green shine in the spotlight like St. Patrick’s Day.

Photo by K2D2vaca

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide on March 17th by Irish people and increasingly by many of non-Irish descent (usually in Australia, North America, and Ireland), hence the phrase, “Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.” Celebrations are generally themed around all things green and Irish; both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food and/or green foods, imbibing Irish drink, and attending parades.

Saint Patrick’s Holiday History

Photo by Flipped Out

Saint Patrick’s Day, colloquially St. Paddy’s Day or Paddy’s Day, is the feast day which annually celebrates Saint Patrick (385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, on March 17, the day on which Saint Patrick died. The day is the national holiday of the Irish people. It is a Bank Holiday in Northern Ireland, and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Montserrat, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In the rest of Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.

St. Patrick’s Blue?

Although Saint Patrick’s Day has the color green as its theme, one little known fact is that blue was once the color associated with this day.


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The Museum of Modern Art is currently running a show that explores the shift of color use from a hand mixed personal expression to a commodified readymade product.

If you cant make it out to New York City before the exhibition ends on May12th, 2008. MoMA’s online exhibition is a site to be seen on its own. The beautifully designed site allows you to explore the works at the exhibit categorized by timeline, artist, or medium.

About The Exhibition

This exhibition takes as its point of departure the commercial color chart, an item that openly declares the status of colors mass-produced and standardized. Midway through the twentieth century, long-held convictions regarding the spiritual or emotional power of particular colors gave way to the embrace of color as an ordinary commodity. At the same time, many artists rejected traditional artistic pedagogy about correct relationships between colors and instead adopted aesthetic approaches that relied on chance, ready-made sources, or arbitrary systems.

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Commissioned by Illuminating York 2007, Usman Haque created this imaginative interactive light projection installation that creates a surreal wrapping of color around the facade of York Minster. The colored light patterns start at the base of the building and move upward at a rate and pattern unique to the corresponding frequencies and rhythms of sound created by the people in the immediate surrounding area.

About the Project

A specially commissioned project for Illuminating York 2007 in northern England, Evoke is a massive animated projection that lights up the facade of York Minster in response to the public, who use their own voices to “evoke” colourful light patterns that emerge at the building’s foundations and soar up towards the sky, giving the surface a magical feeling as it melts with colour.

The cathedral, built to link conceptually earth to the heavens, has been a site for the conveyance of words, dreams and aspirations for hundreds of years. The facade is designed to orient the gazes of passers-by upwards. As an attempt to continue this tradition, the patterns of Evoke are generated in realtime by the words, sounds, music and noises produced collectively by the public, determined by their particular voice characteristics. The colours will skim the surface of the Minster, pour round its features and crevasses, emerging finally near the top of the facade where they will sparkle high overhead.

People with voices of different frequencies, rhythms or cadences will be able to evoke quite different magical patterns upon the surface of the building - a staccato chirping will result in a completely different set of visual effects to a long howl for example, blending old and new to continue animating the facade of the Minster.
- Evoke by Haque Design + Research

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Few cultures are more renowned for their stunning use of color than Japan’s maiko, more commonly known as apprentice geisha in the western world. However, the icons of the geisha culture are rich with meaning, and the colors used within it are no exception. Each careful detail of the maiko’s appearance is intended to invoke specific emotion in the people who come into contact with her. They accomplish this goal most effectively, which is why these mysterious women continue to fascinate foreigners and native Japanese alike even today.

A maiko’s hairstyle is one of the symbols most commonly recognized by Americans. There are several styles that geisha wear, but many agree the most striking of these is the Wareshinobu, also known as the “split peach.” The style is characterized by kanoko, strips of red ribbon that are woven through the bun on the crown of the head. While it is not confirmed that the meaning is correct, it has been suggested that the red fabric implies the shape of the female sexual organs. The Japanese find this highly erotic, as maiko were traditionally virgins until their mizuage, which was a ceremony in which they sold their virginity in a bidding war. This ceremony is now considered antiquated and no longer takes place in Japan.

by Rob Gruhl

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As another year closes, many bloggers are creating their Best of 2007 lists. My top choice in color this year isn’t a specific hue, palette, or pattern. The most vibrant example of a color community I experienced in 2007 was the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.

by muzikspy

The photo above is of The Flaming Lips’ midnight-performance on Saturday of Bonnaroo, where super-heroes passed out piercing, red lazer-pointers to nearly 10,000 eager fans. The crowd was sea of bizarre costumes, balloons, bodies, and sweeping alien-blue lights, all crossed and marked by thousands of brilliant red lines. On stage, the equipment was painted bright orange, with outlines of yellow. A gang of fuzzy, red suit Santas cheered on the right, while on the left a group of green-headed aliens kicked and danced from the bottom of their white, feminine stockings to the top of their short, purple skirts.

Insane Amounts of Celebration

Although Bonnaroo has gotten too crowded, too publicized, too expensive, and unfortunately branded as a drug playground, the festival still beckons some of America’s youngest artists to celebrate the power of music.

by joshunter

Nestled in the Tennessee hills, Bonnaroo doesn’t give artists a chance to present their work, especially now that RV campers are excluded from the regular campers, as much as it gathers artists to remind them that there are thousands of like-minded individuals scattered all over the greater midwest, and even the world.


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From the 10,000 colorful orbs in Italy to 1,000 illuminated helium balloons in England… September seems to be a month filled with wonderfully colorful events. Lights, Color, Beautiful!
 
 

Massimo Silenzio: Circo Massimo - Rome

“Maximum silence” is an installation of lights and colours between history and the future created by Giancarlo Neri and produced thank to cooperation and support from ENEL, and produced by Zètema Progetto Cultura in cooperation with Hfilms. 10.000 luminous globes, placed directly on the ground, slowly changing colours and fading in the magic setting of the Circus Maximus. The luminous installation will be on show until September 11th.

[VIA - NOT-COT]

By duegnazio


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