So why colour?
Colour has an extraordinary capacity to create powerful
psychological effects on its viewers - a power that artists can manipulate for
their own ends.
The use of colour in art has of course come a long way over
time. Colour from the times of Picasso and Van Gough has really evolved from
not just being able to look at it on a canvas but now we can be fully immersed
in it. Rothko's work started the idea of immersive colour but Turrell has found
a way to use colour that was almost unimaginable even 50 years ago. The idea
that we can take colour from something that is presented to us and alter it so
that we almost become part of that colour itself, is a recent concept, and is
developing year on year. It seems no exaggeration to say that art has, as yet,
only found the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is possible with immersive
colour. The idea and concept of the Ganzfeld Effect and the development of art
work using it as an underpinning principal is still in its infancy. It seems
likely that in the years ahead it will be transformative to our collective
understanding of not just what it means to ‘see’ colours, but what it means to
truly experience them.
With regards to physiology, studies have been carried out
that looked into the effect colour can have on the body - for example changes
in heart rate or muscle function have been investigated with varied findings
(Gerard, 1958; Wilson, 1966; Hustmyer 1974). Additionally, in a study carried
out by Jacobs & Suess (1975) it was found that when participants where
fully illuminated in different colours (yellow, red, green or blue trialled)
anxiety levels changed. It was found that red and yellow groups were tenser
than when compared to blue and green groups.
Further studies have been carried out that look into the
Ganzfeld effect when immersing participants in a full field of colour. The
Ganzfeld effect is German for 'complete field' which is designed to create the
absolute loss of depth perception in a viewer. This can be caused by what is
described as “exposure to an unstructured, uniform stimulation field” (Metzger,
1930). Most commonly referring to looking into an unbroken field of colour when
spoken about in studies relating to vision, the brain begins to try to make
sense of the uniform colour field that is seemingly never ending. The brain
begins to cut off the unchanging signal from the eyes and a flickering occurs that appears to begin as black spots in vision
(Pütz, Braeunig & Wackermann, 2006). However, in some cases the black spots
then begin to form geometric shapes as if the brain is tricking the eyes into
seeing things within the colour field that make sense, rather than the
boundless colour (Wackermann, Pütz & Allefeld, 2008). It is therefore clear
that colour does have an effect on people. As of yet there has been no perfect
answer for what specific colour does what exactly and why colours actually have
these particular effects. The only thing that is clear from the research is
that colour does indeed have a large effect on people. It has therefor been
suggested that more research into the effects colour can have on people should
be carried out to gain a more rounded picture of why and how these effects take
place.
As such I have been creating my own version of the Ganzfeld
experiment to further my own personal understanding of what colour means to me.
This experiment requires you to cause yourself temporary sensory deprivation,
and be immersed in an uninterrupted field of colour. In order to do this you
much apply a set of headphones that are playing white noise, apply half a
ping-pong ball to each eye, taped down. Then once laying down in a comfortable
position, shine a light, of your desired colour onto your face. The ping-pong
balls act as an object that filters the light to your eyes and visually what
you see after a few minutes is the uninterrupted colour. The idea is to try to
lay for around 40 – 60 minutes to fully experience it, however effects can
occur from as early as 8 minutes in. I
have so far carried out the experiment once on myself with just one colour. I
am continuing to collect equipment in order for me to get a variation off the
colours I desire. I don’t wish to say too much just now on my personal
experience doing the experiment. I don’t wish to influence anyone else’s experiences
when I (hopefully) convince them to let me do the experiment on them. I’m very
interested in hearing about the experience people have and how it may differ
between each person. On those that will inevitably have some kind of
expectations, through talking to me of what may happen, and those that I will
bring in with absolutely no previous knowledge of what to expect. I plan on
conducting numerous sessions with people, with as many colours as possible,
filming them during the experiment and then having a discussion after to hear
about their experience.
Turrell once said “For me it was important that people come
to value light. To value light as we value gold, silver, paintings, objects.
Its not something that you form with the hands like wax or clay you don’t carve
it away like wood or stone you don’t assemble it like welding. And it’s kind of
learning your craft, it took a while for me to learn how to work with light so
that you really felt its physical presence and came to value it” (Turrell,
2013). I am just now only scrapping the surface of my understanding of what colour
truly means, what it means to each individual person on a very rudimentary
level, and how I can utilise my experiences doing these experiments in order to
inspire and inform my practice.
Bibliography
Gerard, R. (1958). Differential effects of coloured lights
on psychophysiological functions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University
of California, Los Angeles.
Jacobs, K, W & Suess, J, F. (1975). Effects of Four
Psychological Primary Colours On Anxiety State. Perceptual and Motor Skills.
41. pp207-210.
Metzger, W. (1930). "Optische Untersuchungen am
Ganzfeld." Psychologische Forschung: pp6-29.
Pütz, P., Braeunig, M., & Wackermann, J. (2006). EEG
correlates of multimodal ganzfeld induced hallucinatory imagery. International
journal of psychophysiology. 61(2). pp167-178.
Wackermann, J., Pütz, P. & Allefeld, C. (2008).
Ganzfeld-induced hallucinatory experience, its phenomenology and cerebral
electrophysiology.Cortex. 44(10). pp1364-1378.
Turrell, J. (2013). The light inside. www.
Mfah.org/exabitions/past/james-turrellretrospective. Last visited 16/01/2015.
Mahnke, F. (1996). Colodr, Environment, and Human Response:
An Interdisciplinary Understanding of Color and Its Use as a Beneficial Element
in the Design of the Architectural Environment. USA: Published by John Wiley
& Sons
