Our journey takes us down the path of an

artists interaction with colour and its impact on

the artwork.

insight

Chief Editor

Kabo Chanku

NEWSLETTER

art and creativity May 2014

Issue:

04

EDITORIALHELLO and welcome, without further or due lets get into the fourth installment of ArtTrack. I this article we look into art and creativity from a more colourful perspective.

Colour In Design.Colour is an important part of our world, it’s everywhere and we encounter it on a daily basis. For that reason alone it is very crucial that as a creative one has a clear understanding of what, why and when to use which colours and for what reason with a certain level of clarity of it’s (colour) effects on the viewer.

Colour can be used in architectural designs to achieve a variety of atmospheres and enhance functions within different spaces.

In this issue 20-III was kind enough to give us an insight on their recent art installation on the old Gaborone foot bridge in bus rank, if you have been wondering why the bridge has brightened up lately or who rainbow coloured our sky in the rusty the side of the city, check out our article on it inside.

The editorKabo Chanku

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ColourInsight on the basics of colour

RebirthAdding colour to the city

ArchitectureImpact of colour on infrastructure design.

CONTRIBUTORS

DIMA™designer

IJAJAillustrations

SPECIAL THANKS

20-111article contribution

Colour can make or break an art work,scene or a product so it is imperative that we as designers know what colours to mix to achieve certain effects that can accentuate and work to their advantage. Colour can be used to achieve a certain mood or atmosphere, this can either be in an interior or a painting.

“I believe it is about time we jumped into a few principles to guide improvement when dealing with colour.”

SATURATION AND VALUE

Saturation refers to the intensity of colour while Value is the brightness or darkness of colour.Saturation and value can be used to put emphasis on an object. A saturated part of an artwork is likely to attract more attention than the desaturated parts of the painting.

This can also be used to adjust the mood in a scene, a well done high saturated scene can be used to depict happiness on the opposite end to achieve a scene of sadness it’s best to use desaturated colours. Otherwise the scene will not achieve its intended purpose.

Colours will look nice on their own but once put in context with others of high saturation the result might not be pleasing to the eye. We have to understand that saturation should not be overdone but colours of high saturation should be well balanced with desaturated colours.

Having gone through the core components of colour, next we look into a basic set of schemes that one could use when planning their artwork.

Our focus moves onto colour harmonies pg5

COLOUR

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COLOUR. . . Continues

MONOCHROMATIC COLOUR SCHEMEThis is a colour scheme that uses only one colour. Its suitable for single subjects.

Different atmospheric effects can be achieved with the use of monochrome colour scheme.

ANALOGOUS COLOUR SCHEMEA combination that use colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel.

These are colours that are easy on the eye and can be used to reflect peaceful and comfortable mood. Analogous colours are seen in nature.

TRIADIAC COLOUR SCHEMEThis is a combination of three colours that are equidistant on the colour wheel. If you are in the cartooning business and have been confused about colouring try this colour combination and let me know how it worked out.

COMPLEMENTARY COLOURSThis is one of the popular schemes and its composed of colours that sits opposite each other on the colour wheel. If you want colours that are pleasing to look at consider opposites and you will get an artwork that is great to look at. It is important to understand one of the colours should be used predominantly, generally the weaker one.

SPLIT-COMPLIMENTARYThis colour scheme is similar to Complimentary Colour Scheme but here one end is split into two colours. This colour scheme gives more creative freedom. It can be used to create a more lively and joyous scene.

TETRATIC (DOUBLE COMPLIMENTARY)These are two pairs of colours that sit opposite each other on the colour wheel. As the name states it’s Complimentary colours doubled, it is best suited for foregrounds backgrounds. This colour scheme is hard to pull off but it’s pleasing to look at when well done.

COLOUR HARMONIESThis is a set of colour categorization that can put things into perspective.

Art installation is the assembly of an object in a space, it is a medium that evokes critical thinking and a platform to engage the viewer to experience art in a space. Unlike traditional art that is viewed from one reference point and only involves our optical or visual sense , installation art makes the subject to be viewed from different reference points and also engages the five senses. It can form part of a space as an ephemeral or short lived art or a permanent art. Art installation is what makes cities have a strong sense of identity and uniqueness, its what makes memorable spaces and culturally active places. It informs us of social issues and engages social interaction.

Our city lacks landmarks and monuments that make a city more dynamic and active hub, by transforming our civic spaces into more vibrant expressions of human imagination, we are then set to create civic vitalities such as monuments and landmarks to define our city.

R E P R E S S E D B I R T HPublic Art Installation at Gaborone City Station Old Bridge

FEATURED:

20-III found the need to make our city Gaborone a memorable and engaging place through conception of an art installation called ‘Repressed Birth’, a public art installation set to create a platform to ignite, delight and illuminate the presence of public art in our civic environment .The idea of the installation is to activate the imagination and encourage people to pay attention and perceive more deeply the environment we occupy. We have created this medium of communication and engagement to raise a statement, plea and create discussion of debate into the social issues that need to be expressed. It reminds us of the sentiments and rich connectors to our history that need to be preserved and form part of our architectural heritage

The installation is based on establishing the relationship between art and engineering structures which tend to be sterile and rigid in their forms and geometry. The structure of the bridge was taken into consideration when conceptualizing the art installation, which later influenced the idea of a three dimensional geometric cube used ,created by a set of strings that make parabolas that then create an illusion of a three dimensional cube. The created installation changes the spatial quality of the bridge by casting three dimensional cube shadows as the sun moves during the day and also brightens the ceiling of the bridge with palette of rainbow colours. The poetics of light and shadow versus poetics of light and colour were some of the elements highlighted .Material also played a critical factor as we did not want to impose on the structural ability of the bridge, therefore very simple light materials were used. Wool and light frame timber were chosen considering the fact that we wanted the installation to be temporary/ephemeral and not permanent because of financial constraints. The materials are not treated in any way as we intend for them to naturally disintegrate.

Given the opportunity, we would love to make a permanent installation spanning along the whole length of the bridge with more permanent materials and making our historic bridge a monument. We hope our voices will be heard to encourage all in creating a beautiful city. Let us be the change that we want to be and make our city a force to reckoned with in creative minds, let us colour it with innovative creativity.

By 20-IIIBeullah Serema, Eric Johane & Belang Rapalai(Architects, public artist & product designers)

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Colour can be used to create a mood or a specific ambiance in architecture. To achieve this a designer need to have an understanding of the different effects of using different colour combinations. That calls for an extensive read on this subject matter if you really want to play around with rainbow schemes on your designs. As you continue reading I will lay down a few pointers to get you started. I will also give reasons why you should try throwing a little colour into your design.

Colour in architectural design can be used for aesthetic appeal. It is important to understand that designs can be engaging on their own without an element of colour, as white surfaces, walls and ceilings therefore we should not rely on this element alone and disregarding the main design techniques to a “sexy” design as some would define it. The different material used in structures usually come with their original pigmentation and that alone attributes the general look of a design. Obvious example being wood! Wood has an element of beauty and does not need to be painted or rendered in any way to decorate it, its original grained colour is enough.

COLOUR INARCHITECTURE

I M P O R T A N C E O F

Colour is one of the powerful tools that can be used in architecture to

enhance designs in a multitude of ways. The proportions at which it can

be used vary depending on what the designer wants to achieve, sometimes

a considerable size of a building can be rendered in different colours

according to the palette or the materials that are being used. There are

times where a small application of colour is used in design to accentuate

certain parts of the building for example an entrance can be painted red for

it to stand out to the users of the building.

Some design elements can be pronounced by assigning a certain colour that would give them an air of prominence, an entrance to a building will be more visible to the eye if it’s in a colour that stands out from the rest of the structure. Colour in conjunction with other design elements can be used to emphasize certain spaces in a building, This is a subject that interior designers are familiar with.

There are functions that require a certain ambience inside a building that can only be actualized through a clear consideration of colour schemes. This is meticulously done so as to complement the intended purpose. It will be very weird for toddlers to be in a kindergarten with only white walls and monochrome furniture, in fact it will feel more like prison than the aforesaid space. So really a designer - an architect in this case - would have to be equipped with an understanding of the ins and outs of colour.

The above point also requires that one understand the effects of the chosen hue. The “effects” here refer to psychological and physiological implications. These factors are a result of colour schemes and combinations that would have been designated for that particular space.

Colours found in the red region of the spectrum for example red, pink, orange and yellow are identified as warm colours. These evoke emotions stretching from warmth and comfort to feelings of fury and aggression. This is a brief of common colour categorisation and what a certain class of hues may mean in psychological terms.

Blue, purple and green are recognized as cool colours. These are often referred to as calm, and can also express feelings of sadness and indifference. These in nature are often related to calming things like a blue sky.

Does street art and graffiti writing add dynamism to the city scape? What do you think? Do the two coexist? We will have an in depth look in the next installment.

C L O T H I N G

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