IF BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER…

Lymesmith colour extractions, Eucalyptus corymbia

What does this mean for colour design?

In the Buddhist tradition, the physical senses are considered a potentially unreliable source of information. Western Philosophers since Plato have grappled with the idea that the sense of beauty is itself transient or fickle.

This question arose when I was listening to a Buddhist nun talking about the difference between seeing with our eyes, and seeing with hearts and minds.  Buddhism teaches that information provided by our senses is limited, and in many cases not to be trusted.  The nun used the expression ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ to explain that attraction based on outward appearances is often unreliable and subjective.  She used the example of a person feeling that their new partner is the most attractive person in the world, whilst the one they’ve recently divorced has become repulsive. Presumably both people were attractive at one time, but feelings about the old partner changed due to factors that are not to do with their outward appearance!

I feel there are interesting parallels in working with colour.

It’s not our eyes that see colour, it’s our brains.  We don’t see colour objectively, we see it through a lens of culture, memory, fashion, personal and social history; we see colours in relation to each other. We feel colour, and our feelings about colours change over our lifetimes.

I had an intense but short lived love affair with the colour pink around age 12 - and this was my mothers fault - because she had always dressed my sister (the cute one) in pink, and me (the serious one) in blue. So when I could choose my own clothes I only wanted pink. Then there came a terrible day when I was TOTALLY OVER the pink phase and had the devastating realisation that I actually didn’t have any clothes to wear that were not pink. It took quite a while to get some colour balance back in my wardrobe, and another 30 years before I felt any attraction for pink clothing at all.

‘Arc Angel’ Wilson St Mural, Newtown. Photo: Julia Charles

With colour trends, the hottest colour combinations of the 1990’s are thought of as completely passé now. 1950’s colour combinations were passé in the 1970’s but are now considered interesting again. This is why I avoid the colour trend industry. Whilst it’s impossible not to be aware of trends to some degree, they are irrelevant as far as good colour design is concerned.

I prefer to look at a site’s context and history in order to develop colour concepts for buildings.  By ‘site’, I mean that I look at the physical characteristics of a given place, which may include the geology, the ecology, the aspect and light quality; I consider the architectural style/s of the neighbourhood and the cultural history of the site - different projects have different emphases, for example, a small residential interior will have different reference points than a larger public building facade, but the process I use to find resonant colour associations and patterns is basically the same.

I’m trying to create meaningful and lasting relationships, where colour, architecture and site are in harmony. Human brains love patterns, and they have evolved over millennia deeply connected to the natural world. I use colour as a pattern language and a place language, and this is why my colour work resonates with a broad spectrum of people, regardless of their personal tastes.

The mural I recently completed in Newtown “Arc Angel” has had an amazing public response.  The mural itself is very simple.  I’ve picked up on colours and shapes that are characteristic of the local area (a heritage conservation zone) and tried to make a work which is fresh and lively and yet feels like a part of the place that’s already there.

My favourite story is of the neighbour who walked past on the first day of painting and said she ‘‘didn’t think street art was appropriate in this heritage neighbourhood’ and grumbled that ‘it shouldn’t be allowed’.  At the end of the week she came back and said, ‘I just wanted to say how sorry I am for what I said earlier in the week. The mural is absolutely beautiful and entirely appropriate for our street, I love it!’

Julie Power wrote a lovely article in the Sydney Morning Herald, you can read it here.

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