Colour and Vision

Anya Hurlbert

doi:10.1017/9781108946339.004

3 - Colour and Vision

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 September 2021

Edited by

Mike Sheppard and

With contributions by

Dan-Eric Nilsson and

Andrew Fabian: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Janet Gibson: Affiliation:
Darwin College, Cambridge
Mike Sheppard: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Simone Weyand: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Andrew Blake: Affiliation:
Samsung AI Research Centre
Carolin Crawford: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Paul Fletcher: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Sophie Hackford: Affiliation:
Wired Magazine
Anya Hurlbert: Affiliation:
Newcastle University
Dan-Eric Nilsson: Affiliation:
Lunds Universitet, Sweden
Carlo Rovelli: Affiliation:
International Centre for Theoretical Physics

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Summary

When Turner daubed a red buoy in his seascape Helvoetsluys, what did he mean? In nature, red may repel or attract, signalling toxicity or ripeness, anger, ruddy health or sexual readiness. For Turner, the red created contrast, and in making that mark, he meant to generate salience and arouse interest, to dominate his rivals and draw in his admirers. Colour has long excited emotions and intellectual debate, not only for visual art, but also in philosophy, psychology and physiology. In contemporary vision science studies, colour helps people find objects faster, discern material properties, learn, conceptualise and memorise. Yet colour is made in the mind, not out there in the world. It is a subjective phenomenon, a personal possession, one that varies between individual eyes, and one that people cling to with ardour when challenged: witness the public divide over the 'blue/black', 'white/gold' dress. So the question is not only what does colour mean, in life and in art, but how does it mean anything? How does the human brain create colour, stabilise it, and make its meaning? And why does it evoke emotion and aesthetic appreciation?

Keywords

colour emotion aesthetics cognition art illumination disegno colore light spectrum colour wheel

Type: Chapter
Information: Vision , pp. 57 - 106

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108946339.004 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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