The Most Relative Medium in Art

Last night, a couple friends and I, including my “colorblind” roommate, had a highly intriguing conversation; this is doubly so because it relates directly to what I’ve been reading in Josef Albers’s Interaction of Color.* In the first few pages of his book, Albers says that “color is the most relative medium in art.” Last night’s conversation was one of those spontaneous philosophical talks that nobody can quite remember how it began, but which everyone enjoyed. I think… I did anyway…

Nonetheless, color was brought up and my roommate said that you had to look at the object in question** “through (his) eyes.” The essence of the remainder of the discussion revolved around individual interpretations of colors. To paraphrase: “My version of Green, for example, might be completely different than yours, but because all my life I’ve been told that it is green, that’s the color I see when you say ‘green.’” This coincides with Albers’s opening statement that “If one says ‘Red’ (the name of a color) and there are 50 people listening, it can be expected that there will be 50 reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different.” Who’s right?

That’s why color is “the most relative medium in art.”

*Gosh I love it when what I’m learning about is backed up by a non-academic example in everyday life!
**The object in question? See image: http://www.oppictures.com/singleimages/400/SAN83004_1_1.JPG