PAPER NATIONAL LANDSCAPE CONFERENCE 2004

THE PHILOSOPHY OF COLOURS


By

Assoc. Prof. Mustafa Kamal Bin Mohd. Shariff, AILAM
Department of Landscape Architecture
Universiti Putra Malaysia
43400 Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan
E-mail: deanmus2002@yahoo.com.sg

Abstract

It is hard to imagine living in a world devoid of colours. From the day we were born we are surrounded by a multitude of colours and colours determine who we are and our choices for survival. So pervasive are colours in our lives that they have always been taken for granted. Until, off course, we are deprived of colours or got ourselves labelled with the wrong colour! This paper attempts to explore the raw and refined aspects of colours and how they have been used in the past as well as the present and perhaps the future. From the mysterious white light of the sun to the delirious green tropical canopies, colours have never failed to captivate, excite or disenchant us. Colours are not only a significant part of the landscape but rather they originate from the environment itself.


PROLOGUE

I am about to bring you on an exciting journey. It will begin with facts as raw as a slice of red meat on a butcher’s table. But by the end of this, I hope to delve in finer things that surround this subject matter. However, if you find the journey boring, then it is the fault of the guide, never the journey.”

DIALOGUE

The discussion on colours, be they scientific, psychological or philosophical ones, is indeed very interesting and rewarding. It must have been so because since antiquity, scientists, philosophers, lawyers and barbers have thought and debated about the phenomena of colours that colour their lives.

For us mortal humans, colours are so common and have become a part of us that we sometimes become so careless as to take them for granted but with unpredictable consequences. Such things occur when we happen to support the wrong colour with true intention or display our true colour at the wrong occasion. In either case, the aftermath can lead to dire consequences. But are all creatures so fortunate as us to be able to see so many colours? Science indicated that many animals are not so fortunate in that they can only see in monochrome – in shades of black and white. So what kind of fools are the matadors who tempt to rage the bulls with red pieces of cloth when a simple black cloth or a stick will do the job? But then again a fiesta would not be a fiesta without the pomp and gaiety that colours can bring. So we know that colours are more for the human spectators than for the unfortunate bull. But scientists also noted that some animals can see colours that are even beyond the normal ability of human beings to see!

But seeing colour is one thing. The ability to communicate colours to another presents a different set of challenges. According to Tuan (1993), most major languages in the world lack the ability to name or describe colours adequately. This includes the English language. The inadequacy is so bad that Munsell decided to use letters and numbers to describe colours in his famous colour chart instead of English. Across the world the Maoris of New Zealand are said to perform better at describing some colours. They are able to describe many more colours of red. The Inuits of the Alaskan wilderness, on the other hand, can describe many more shades of white. They need to as their ice covered world largely appear in white and its variations.

But where do colours come from? Today, any school children knows that the light from our faithful sun carries seven colours – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. And with the right tools we can “see” two more colours at the opposite end of the spectrum i.e. the infra-red and the ultra violet. But the amazing thing is that all these colours can appear united as one single colour. Sometimes what appear as pure is actually composed of diversity like the truth itself. Pass it through a prism, a single white light can generate its true composition. Pass through scrutiny truth itself may take on many forms. Therefore, it is the natural light that gives colours to everything that we see. The colours that we see vary with the light quality and intensity. Colours appear brighter when the sky is clearer and appear dull when the weather turns cloudy or hazy. In the absence of light, colours cease to exist.

Having known where colour originates we now turns to what makes colour. Again our science colleagues came to the rescue. Light, they say, are made up of particles that vibrate with a certain magnetic wavelength. The fact was explained by Isaac Newton back in 1666 with his prism experiment. Red has the longest frequency wavelength of the colour spectrum while violet and beyond have the shortest. So short and powerful are the latter wavelengths that they could penetrate through the human body and other objects giving rise to Roentgen’s X-ray.

When natural light of various colours hits objects, most colours in the spectrum will be absorbed by them. However, some will be reflected away. And it is the colours that are reflected away that enter the retina of the eye and are picked up by the special cells at the back of our eyes strangely named rods and cones. The sensitive rods and cones then transmit the sensations to the brain and we give names to the sensations as red, orange, yellow, blue and others relying solely on our knowledge and past experiences. A well experienced person can picked up between 150-200 different colours. Going by logic and the explanation given, a yellow mango is everything else but yellow. This is one of the contentions of a debate that will be delved in slightly later.

While we think that we know colours, describing them is not a simple matter. Those that have to deal with colours in their profession such as designers and colour consultants need to communicate well about their subject matter. And thus, we have come up with terms such as a hue to mean the type of colour, for example, red, orange and yellow. The degree of lightness and darkness of a colour is called its value. Thus, we can now describe bright pink or dark burgundy. And colour intensity refers to the “brightness or dullness of a colour.”

To further pacify our simple mind in recognizing and describing colours, we devised the colour wheel that has been the standard colour aid in any design studio. The wheel is based on colours that are considered primary because of their purity. These are red, yellow and blue. Then we have the secondary colours of green, orange and purple. They are called secondary colours because they are composed of a mixture of two primary colours. Blue mixed with yellow will give us green, red when mixed with yellow result in orange and blue when added to red will give us purple. But what if a primary colour is mixed with a secondary colour on the colour wheel? The combination results in tertiary colours such as yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple and so on. While describing how a colour is formed seems to be easy enough, using colours to achieve an intended effect is not as simple. And thus the colour wheel tells us that there are combinations of colours that result in harmony while others can result in a discord. Colours that are found close to one another on the colour wheel are said to be analogous while those on the opposite side are complementary. Therefore, yellow, yellow-green, and yellow-orange are analogous colours. On the other hand, red and green or blue and yellow are complementary colours that are contrasting and yet in harmony.

While we have said quite a bit about colours and their origin and how they come about, the effects they have on our mood and behaviour are a matter of greater concern to us. To begin with, there are colours that are said to be warm. These include red and yellow and their combinations. The reason why these are grouped as warm colours is perhaps because they excite us and bring cheers to our lives. Warm colours generate activity and a faster heartbeat. They visually and psychologically warm the temperature of a space. Bright coloured flowers when used in a garden bring cheer and happiness. These colours are also said to be inviting, optimistic, encouraging, and stimulating to the appetite. Bright colours tend to blend objects, patterns and textures better than cool colours. Correctly used, warm colours visually reduce large spaces and contribute to intimacy. Young children love warm colours which help them to dissipate their boundless energy. They often use bright colours to express happiness.

On the other hand, cool colours work in the opposite. These colours such as green and blue have a more calming effect. They soothe our mind into a state of relaxation. And perhaps that is one reason they are preferred by the elderly. Researchers have pointed out that these are also the qualities that draw people to nature and the outdoors to escape the excitement and fatigue of city life. Used in confined spaces, these colours appear to recede and visually expand the existing space. A point of interest to those who are concerned about their diet – cool colours are believed to subdue the appetite! We would not want to eat so much rice that is coloured blue instead of yellow.

So powerful were the effects of colours on our psyche that lead some to describe colours as “the most personal and emotional of all the elements of design.” The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese, Indians and others are known to use colours to treat all sort of ailments. And colour therapy is making a comeback into our twenty first century lifestyles.

As mentioned earlier the effects of colours on us are influenced by a number of factors. Knowledge, experience and one’s culture may determine how we perceive colours and thus, how we react to it. Let us take a look at our reactions to colour from an instinctive viewpoint. Bright colours such as reds and yellows are called warm colours. And as mentioned earlier, they naturally cause our heart to beat faster. And thus we get more excited on seeing red than other colours. More adrenalin is pumped into our system. But for whatever reasons? Then we notice, too that poisonous plants and animals are brightly coloured. Could it be that the excitement that we feel today on seeing warm colours is a reminder of our distant past when our ancestors had to deal with venomous creatures?

Our response to colours depends also on our past experiences. It has been determined that we often associate colours with things and events in our lives. Here colour becomes very personal and difficult to generalise. Tuan (1993) mentioned how past experiences influenced our taste for colours when he said that before the industrial revolution, Europeans love to dress themselves in gay colours that bordered on the garish. However, after the industrial revolution, their tastes inclined towards grey and black. This is large due to the large amount of smokestack soot in the air that stained everything including clothing grey and black.

Likewise one’s culture too has a great influence on how we react to colour. To the traditional Chinese reds and yellows are the colours of happiness, good fortune and wealth. Thus, Chrysanthemums and Peonies are a favourite at celebrations. On the other hand, black is associated with misfortune, death and sorrow. However, among the Malays, black is the colour of courage and the mystics. We are taught that green is a colour of nature and therefore the Greenpeace Movement whose activities mainly centred on saving nature. A compact disc entitled “Touching nature, greening minds” is surely about educating people loving the natural environment. But green is also the colour that is associated with Islam. Surely the West would have some difficulty in interpreting this colour if “civilisations were to clash.” And currently it seems that the “red, white and blue “ are smothering all the other colours in hegemony.

Now let us take a look at what lurks behind the philosophy of colours. Great thinkers including Plato, Socrates, Averrhoes, Santayana, Descartes and others, just to name a few, stir up much debate about colour. One of their main contentions revolves around whether colours really exist! Ackerman (1990) claimed that:

“Colour doesn’t occur in the world, but in the mind. Remember the old paradoxical question: If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? A parallel question in vision: If no human eye is around to view it, is an apple really red?”

A number of concepts have been proposed and are still being proposed to answer this question. One, for instance, focuses on objects as having colour properties while the other looks from the aspect of colour as a quality of the perceptual experience of the observer. The former seems to be favoured by those inclined towards the scientific approach to looking at the truth of the natural world.

Another problem with colour has been touched slightly earlier. If a colour of the object seen is that of the colour that is reflected and not absorbed by the object, then should we call the object by the colour that it is not? This seems to be another paradox of colour that has satiated philosophers’ appetite for many years.

And finally, we come to the theme of our conference “colours amidst green” Is green not a colour among colours? May be the conference organiser is confused or had a hidden agenda. Or perhaps green symbolises nature and colours are the diversity of life. I have not a faintest idea but if we are to argue that green is anything but green and colours are therefore green, then are we talking about the one and the same thing or nothing at all?

EPILOGUE

I seek no apology from the organiser nor you my dearest audience. For if you are lost then I am, too. For this is what philosophy is – seeking what is not rather than what it is…”


REFERENCES

Ackerman, D. 1990.A Natural History of the Senses. Random House Inc. New York

Ashley, L. 1995. The Colour Book: Using Colour to Decorate Your Home. Ebury Press, London.

Nielson, K.J. and Taylor, D.A.. 1994. Interiors: An Introduction. Brown and Benchmark Pub., Madison.

Tuan, Y.F. 1993. Passing Strange and Wonderful: Aesthetics, nature, and culture. Island Press, Washington, D.C.