Two weeks ago we presented our first studio project. I’m not much for ‘abstract design,’ but apparently the Germans are. We had a big tank of water, and our assignment was to create a ’system’ that had a function both on the surface of the water and below the surface. The projects ranged from little underwater vehicles that swam around, to crazy clouds of ink, to exploding cabbage juice. Whatever. I chose to take a semi-scientific approach and work with the relationship between light and various media (in this case air, water, and our prism-like tank).
Begin crash course in color theory:
Light is really just electromagnetic waves that our eyes can perceive. Different wavelengths are seen as different colors ranging from red (around 380 nanometers) to violet (around 750 nanometers). You should have learned this in high school, ROY G BIV, etc. However, your deranged, middle aged physics teacher probably lied to you and told you “Indigo” was the “I” in ROY G BIV. Indigo is not a color, nor is it part of the spectrum, it was made up because English teachers demand there be a vowel in all words found in the English language, and that fool Isaac Newton wanted 7 colors instead of 6. Hooray, public education. That rant having passed, the standard colors are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet.
There are two basic color creating principles. RGB (additive color), and CMYK (subtractive color). RGB is “Red, Green, and Blue” which are the primary colors of LIGHT (not yellow, don’t argue with me). The theory is that black is the void of color, and you can add these (R, G, and B) in different quantities to create any hue until finally all three are completely saturated and it becomes white. CMYK is “Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black” (yes I know ‘black’ doesn’t begin with ‘k’ I didn’t come up with it.) This method is used for ink, which is why your HP deskjet has three funny color cartridges, plus black. It is the opposite, stating that white is the absence of color, and C, M, and Y can be added until you finally reach black.
Here’s a Visual. I love Visuals:
I also did some talking about prisms and other fun physics things, but this is getting boring. Basically what I did was build these crazy floating flashlight buoys with colored film, and shot light all over the tank.
Ooooo…. Ahhhh….
That’s really it. This has nothing to do with architecture, but I love physics… and color. The end.
