Informational, Psychological /Symbolic COLOR

Example: Road Signs.RED Stop Sign.

Message: Halt! Watch out!

Informational ColorColor imbued with meaning, used to convey a direct message

What’s the impact of this color change?

Example: White WeddingDress has emotional weight =

chastity purity, innocence.

Psychological ColorColor that elicits some kind of emotional response from the person experiencing it.

What’s the impact of this color change?

Color Symbols: affected by culture, society, smaller communities, family etc.

The Psychology of ColorFor human beings, color is both a physical & emotional experience

Claude Monet

Color & Light = Life/ Memories/ Sense of Place

Claude Monet

Color & our Senses: Color can be associated with music, sound, taste, & touch…

triggering physiological responses.

What Psychological / Symbolic significance do the colors play in William Blake’s painting below?

• Colors can be the vehicle for conveying or emphasizing a symbolic THEME &/or provoking a psychological effect on an artwork or environment

• William Blake’s The Good and Evil Angels from 1805 conveys the theme of “Good and Evil.” The colors provoke a strong emotional trigger for those concepts. The Red-Orange Angel is depicted as possessed, firey & aggressive, while the Pale, White Angel is innocent & cautiously wise.

Color Psychologyis a field of study devoted to analyzing the effect of color on

human behavior and feeling

• Reds & Oranges = "warm" colors…It's claimed that red hues increase bodily tension and stimulate the nervous system

• Blues & Greens = "cool" colors... It’s claimed that "cool" hues being passive hues, release tension

but sometimes conflicting studies

• One study found weight lifters to have more powerful performances in blue rooms.

• Another study found that babies cry more frequently in yellow rooms.

• Still another study used Baker-Miller Pink or "pepto bismol pink" to calm prisoners. (by Dr. Alexander Schauss, Ph.D., of the American Institute for Biosocial Research, cited on [Color Matters: pink])

Chromotherapy: color therapy• Color Halls for healing: 2500 years ago in ancient Egypt & China• Color therapy: classified as a “vibrational healing modality”

to balance, mental, spiritual, physical instabilities• Applies visible light, electromagnetic energy—7 spectral hues

• Considered “alternative medicine” “pseudo-scientific”

The 7 Chakras:Each color relates to a different energy sourcewithin the body.

Each color is reflected in the 7 spectralhues, visible waves of light.

Which Chakra do you identify with most clearly?

This is your strongest Color energy. The others may be weaker, areas needing attention…

Light Therapy, Chakra Test, Auras• http://www.reiki-for-holistic-health.com/human-body-energy-

centers.html

• http://www.chakraenergy.com/test.html

• http://www.esolibris.com/articles/auras_chakras/aura_color.php

JAMES TURRELL’s PBS art:21 interview

http://video.pbs.org/video/1237561674