CONCEPTS IN COLOR

What is Color?

According to new research, color influences the body's internal clock known as "Circadian Rhythm" as blues and yellows reflect the external rising and setting of the sun. The seven rays are the prismatic light ... red; orange; yellow; green; blue; and indigo violet.

Crayola defines color as "the aspect of things that is caused by differing qualities of light being reflected or emitted by them." The maker of crayons used by children far and wide explains how light is necessary for us to see — when it shines, some colors bounce off an object, while others are absorbed. Our eyes can only distinguish the reflected colors.

Meanwhile, light is both a particle and a ray — a ray made of electromagnetic waves. Different wavelengths are either visible or invisible to our eyes in the form of color. The longest wavelength that we can see is red, while the shortest is violet. Ultraviolet, a shorter wavelength than violet, cannot be seen by our eyes, while infrared, which is a longer wavelength than red, is also beyond our scope. Whether seen or not, wavelengths can be felt in terms of their influence on our bodies.

"Color stimulates certain moods in us," said Hans Hofmann, a painter known for the exuberance of his palette. His color field painting, a specific abstract style, attempts to connect with the primal emotions found in ancient myths. "The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color," Hofmann said. "Our entire being is nourished by it." His belief in the power of color was spot on, as a group of researchers from Manchester demonstrate.