Color Transforms

Color is able to transform a single design through its ability to express balance, quality, quantity, and organization aimed towards the eyes of their viewer.  The transformation of colors in a specific sense may be seen through The Goethe Triangle, explained thoroughly in Josef Alber’s book, Interaction of Color.  This specific color theory gives organization to the world of color.  The equilateral triangle is divided into nine small triangles outlining the three primaries, three secondaries, and the three tertiaries.  In the beginning three triangles are the boldest contrasts of colors, with the most extremities.  In the bottom right and left hand corners are the Yellow and Blue triangles known by Goethe as the “the only two pure colors [and] the primeval contrast”(Albers 142).  Then in the apex is the red triangle known as “the middle between them”(142).  In order to complete the remaining triangles “the less opposite secondaries are in the middles of the outer edges, and the closest, or least different, tertiaries naturally meet still more in the center”(142).  With the Goethe Triangle, designs can be more fully explored and their balance can be seen as the transformation. 

An important point of reference in Alber’s book, Interaction of Color, is the idea of Quantity.   Here Quantity is not only seen as a measurable amount or a precise number, but rather a sense of balance.  This is the platform by which Goethe’s Triangle can be later expressed.  The relationship between organization and balance allows color to be seen through various lights/theories.  Schopenhauer who in turn changed the equal areas into different quantities found the discovery of the relationship.  He made the lightest color (yellow) the smallest amount, and the darkest color (violet) the largest amount.  Then he paired 3 opposites (yellow/violet, blue/orange, and red/green) into equal thirds of a color ring.  Finally after a few more key steps, he created the quantity of 3:4:6:9:8:6.  The outcome created two key questions “how much and how often”(Albers 43).  Thus the four colors appear in different realms, making them with almost no commonality. In the end, the unrelated colors are able to “preset changes in climate or temperature, in tempo, or rhythm-that is, changes of atmosphere or mood, so that the factual contents (the same four colors) are hidden or, better, hardly recognizable”(Albers 44).  The conclusion of the transformation and quantity leads to “the increase in amount of color-not merely in size of canvas-visually reduces distance“(44).  This ultimately lures the viewer into an appreciated closeness with the design seeing the final relationship of color, balance, quantity, and organization.  The transformation between the colors of the design to the eyes of the viewer is profound, and the way the colors are interpreted is what creates a unique experience between the art and the audience.      

All of the information is found in Interaction of Color by Josef Albers. 

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