Turin has been named ‘design world capital for 2008,’ and one of the many exhibitions running this year is ‘flexibility - design in a fast changing society.’ The idea behind the show is this: since it is predicted that 90% of the worlds population will be living in cities by the year 2050, the already complex life of cities will rise to an even more complex state, and we will need designs to meet our increasingly complex needs. One designer at the exhibit in particular has grabbed the blog world’s attention, thanks to coverage by designboom, with the creation of his unique “renewable fashion.”
Fernando Brízio’s ‘renewable fashion’ is a customizable, and reusable, dress where the color pattern is created by placing felt tip markers in pockets placed all over the dress. After placing your collection of markers in your dress, just sit back, have a drink or two, and watch as your dress becomes a unique expression of yourself and your maker collection. When you get tired of you color scheme or your markers start to dry up, just throw it in a wash and your back to a new palette.
Any true red blooded American patriot would never even consider looking at any other colors than red, white and blue on July Fourth, but let us consider some of the other colors associated with this day of celebration of the United State’s independence and freedom.
As any school kid will tell you, the Fourth of July it is a celebration of the day our nation adopted the Declaration of Independence from those mean, imposing Brits of the 18th century. Finally free, to start discriminating on our own terms, the U.S. started a long tradition of an annual summer time celebration.
We’ve covered the necessary Fourth of July tools of celebration before, fireworks: The Magical Colors of Fireworks and Bursting Into Color, but there are other things so Americana, like hot dogs, pool toys, Popsicles, picnics, baseball games, lawn chairs and beach parties, that offer color palettes of nostalgia.
So, on this day, let us unite as lovers not only of red, white and blue, but of all colors, and declare our independence from Pantone, from 3 color choices when we want 30, from impossible to read black and white info graphics, and holiday color associations that make it impossible to use green and red together.
So, eat a hot dog, drink a beer, hit a home run and run the bases while singing “God Bless America,” and celebrate the few days off of work you get. Oh, and remember to distance yourself once the wick is lit. Happy Fourth of July!
A recent touring exhibition is turning a long held common belief on its head. The common perception is that the great statues and buildings of ancient Greece and Rome were all pure unpainted stone or green tarnished bronze, but researchers have been arguing that this may not been what these classic monuments really looked like back in the era of their creation. That, in fact, these statue’s were quite alive and vibrant, full of color.
Researchers believe, particalurly Vinzenz Brinkmann who has been doing this research for the past 25 years, that artists used mineral and organic based colors and after centuries of deterioration any trace of pigment leftover when discovered, would have been taken off during any cleaning processes done before being put on display, washing the historical art clear of its true colors.
The findings of this research completley changes the commonly held modern ideas of the ancient world, and the way we view modern sculpture and art today, much of which was based on those classical Greek and Roman styles.
The exhibition, ‘Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity’ features more than 20 full-size color reconstructions of Greek and Roman works, alongside 35 original statues and reliefs. In two reviews of the exhibition, which is running at Harvard University’s Arthur M. Sackler Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional works at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California, the authors describe the experience of first seeing something that was, for so long, thought to be a bare, lifeless statue, now come to life with color.
Walking through the galleries, I pause in front of a color reconstruction of a marble portrait of the Roman emperor Caligula, who ascended the throne in a.d. 37 at age 25, and ruled until his assassination four years later. I’m used to seeing him in “classic white”: his pupil-less eyes set against a ghostly pallor, frozen in a regal gaze. But color makes me focus on different facial features, such as the mop of thick, brown hair that frames his fleshy face, which is accented by bright hazel eyes and soft rosy lips. His cheeks are shaded in areas that bring out a plumpness, revealing his youth. I feel as if the deceased despot from my dry history books was actually once young, handsome, and alive.
- archaeology.org
This years New York Design Week has come and gone, but those designs that made a big enough impression on the public will hopefully be around, and in production, for everyone, who can afford them, to enjoy. Here we are taking a look at some of the more colorful designs from this years event.
‘nickel couch’
With its sleek silver design, Johnny swing’s ‘nickel couch’ uses 7,000 nickels welded together with 35,000 welds. Johnny is an artist based in Vermont who specializes in the repurposing of materials.
‘dek’ lights
This simple spot lighting solution from mmckenna only comes in green, but the ‘designer emulation kits (dek)’ lighting series is based on famous lighting designs.
‘tush-in’ extension cord
Designer Arihiro Miayke has created a colorful and useful extension chord hub. With multiple outlets contained within a single brightly colored felt bin, it offers a place to keep the tangled mess hidden inside.
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.
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.”)
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.
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.”
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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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