and, if given a choice ~ films in black & white or color?
One could even say this: the gray is closer to reality than the color photo, because reality is gray. The world surrounding us is by itself colorless. It is painters who lend it color, and if we believe we see things in color, it’s because we’ve seen too many galleries and art exhibits. (Michel Tournier, “Gray and Color”)
Would you agree with Tournier, do we only see in color because we’ve seen the world painted? It’s an interesting conceit – the black and white photo offers us a greater glimpse of reality. What if we were to only see ourself, our reflection in grey – would it challenge our perception? (visit my other blog if you’d like to see sketch inspired by this reading)
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I’ll leave you with another quote that really has nothing to do with any of this, but is rather a continuation on idea of philosophy/death. This is Sartre’s take on Genet’s book “Funeral Rites” as explained by Sontag. (i find it intriguing)
“Genet’s arrogant madness goes further: he jerks off the Universe” (Sartre comparing Genet to de Sade)
Jerking off the universe is perhaps what all philosophy, all abstract thought is about: an intense, and not very sociable pleasure, which has to be repeated again and again. It is rather good description anyway, of Sartre’s own phenomenology of consciousness. And, certainly, it is a perfectly fair description of what Genet is about. (Susan Sontag, “Sartre’s Saint Genet” 1963)
Philosophy is not dead, it just cannot be shared in polite company, whereas science is always good for a roundtable discussion that may just offer you an zen-like meditation ~
Carl D'Agostino
/ 2013/01/31I disagree with MT. Nature’s palette is far superior and is imitated by the painter to remind that the world is not only gray.
angela
/ 2013/02/01One wonders Carl, how many painters have been color-blind..
peculiaritiesandreticences
/ 2013/01/31The world may be colorless, but we don’t perceive it that way. We may place color in our own world, but that doesn’t mean we perceive the world more accurately in black and white. Such an idea neglects the fact that our perceptions of the world are merely heuristic reconstructions rather than seeing nature as it is.
By the same logic, there’s no such thing as sound-there’s just energy waves bouncing around. We create the experience of sound. Therefore, we should forget about music.
Tom (Aquatom1968)
/ 2013/01/31Angela, I see colour in everything, even black and white photographs. If things aren’t colourful enough for me, I just ask in my mind for the colour to be turned up. It may be my imagination, but it works!
angela
/ 2013/02/01Tom, from reading your blog, I know your imagination knows no limits…color is probably one of the more tame aspects! ~ a
peculiaritiesandreticences
/ 2013/01/31Do you know about the Magical Mystery Tour film? You can see parts of it on Youtube. I understand these days it is highly regarded and thought to be influential in some film schools, At the time of its release, however, it was widely panned- in part because it was highly dependent on bright color for effect, and it premiered on British TV- with many or most viewers watching it in black and white.
See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG73Pk1yUj8
angela
/ 2013/02/01I have heard of but have never viewed…will check out the link, thank you!
peculiaritiesandreticences
/ 2013/02/01I’ve never seen the whole film; it’s not been in print for decades- but I think it was just released on DVD/Blu-Ray. Don’t get me wrong, from the parts I’ve seen it is a strange, uneven avant-garde mess! But that can be fun too, and hey, it’s still the Beatles.
You can see from the clip I sent 1) how important color is to the work, and 2) how influential it might be to the later form of music video. Remember, this is 1967.
Andra Watkins
/ 2013/01/31When I remember dreams, they are vivid technicolor. I almost never remember them, though.
angela
/ 2013/02/01I am a color dreamer, too, Andra. Oddly, very vivid dreams ‘reappear’ in fragments a day later when writing.. ~ a
RoSy
/ 2013/01/31This just made me think how depressing life would be without color!
angela
/ 2013/02/01Yes, but then we must think ‘whose color?’ Could we color our vision if we cannot see the full spectrum. It is interesting, come to think of it, for what would a piece of art look like if one cannot see the spectrum. ~ a