Anxiety in Color

The Scream by Edvard Munch, perhaps his most recognized painting

“A work of art can only come from the interior of man.
 Art is the form of the image formed 
 upon the nerves, heart, brain and eye of man.” (Edvard Munch)


Edvard Munch was born in Oslo, Norway in 1863 and, with the notable exception of the two decades from 1889 to 1909 spent traveling, studying, working and exhibiting in France and Germany, he lived there until his death in 1944. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was five and his beloved sister also died of TB when he was fifteen.  

He was active as a painter from the 1880s until shortly before his death, though the greater part of his oeuvre, and certainly the better known part, was produced before the early 1920s.  Although his art was bohemian, he appeared like a proper business man in most of his photographs.

Photo of Edvard Munch

 During his lifetime of work, he made one of the most significant and enduring contributions to the development of Modernism in the twentieth century. In his themes and subject matter, in the manner in which he gave voice to these, and in his handling of paint and the graphic media (especially woodcut and lithography), Munch was profoundly original and radical. He is one of the handful of artists who have shaped our understanding of human experience and transformed the ways in which it might be visually expressed. 

Melancholy by Edvard Munch

Munch's nomadic and self-imposed exile's life in Europe, from his mid-twenties to mid-forties - especially in the cosmopolitan, creatively fertile centers of Paris and Berlin - was undoubtedly vital to the shape of his art. It established the necessary detachment from the 'untroubled communal myths' of his homeland and the troubled passage of his young manhood. On the one hand he was freed from the constraints of his past, and the real and perceived limitations of provincial life. On the other hand he was closely associated with the largely Nordic avant-garde writers and artists of his day who shared and promoted his belief in the necessity of using private, subjective experience to create 'universal' statements and imagery. This was where Munch's originality and personal convictions flourished. His was the beginning of an age which celebrated the life of the individual rather than of community or society.

 Death of Edvard's mother when he was 5 years old

Perhaps more than any other artist, Munch has given pictorial shape to the inner life and psyche of modern man, and is thus a precursor in the development of modern psychology. His images of existential dread, anxiety, loneliness and the complex emotions of human sexuality have become icons of our era. Munch developed the great themes of Angst, Love and Death during the 1890s - a project he called The frieze of life - and repeatedly returned to them until the end of his life. 

Isolation by Edvard Munch

Munch's' quest for a distilled, elementary form and images that could speak for all of human experience is best understood within the framework of late nineteenth-century art. For, while we rightly celebrate Munch as a Modernist, radical and singular in his contribution to the modern world, it is important to recognize how deeply imbedded and formed he was by the echoes and modes of the fin de siecle - nowhere more so than in his representation of women and sexuality. 

Vampire by Edvard Munch

As a young art student he associated with the rebellious, 'Bohemian' artists and writers of Oslo and was quick to respond to the intellectual and aesthetic revolutions brewing around him. Many artists had been persuaded to return to Norway from France by a growing nationalistic spirit and wish to rebuild the Norse identity, fueled in part by the continuing political Swedish domination of their ancient land. They brought with them an impetus to change. The literary and artistic communities, joined forces with the radical politicians of the time who were working to achieve women's liberation, an eight-hour working day, and universal suffrage. 

One of strongest influences on Munch's development was the older artist and critic, Christian Krogh, whose adoption of the Realism of old masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, DiegoVelazquez, Caravaggio, and El Greco, formed a distinctive alternative to the romantic naturalism which dominated Norwegian art for much of the century. (I must admit this information surprised me. However, training in how to paint like the Masters gives an artist wonderful skills for any type of personal art---BBL)

Berlin was crucial to Munch's evolution. It was here in the early 1890s that his art found its first widespread reception and recognition. Munch received numerous commissions for both portraiture and mural decorations which enabled him to earn his living as an artist. In Berlin in the early 1890s, amongst his peers, the cosmopolitan and largely Nordic circle of writers, critics and philosophers, Munch found also the intellectual stimulus and philosophical attitudes that validated the underpinnings of his art, whose beginnings were formulated in the fervent intellectual and sexual radicalism of the Oslo-Boheme.

Combined with the recently encountered intensity and anguish of erotic love, this rich brew of emotional, intellectual and physical experience formed the substance which nurtured Munch's art and which would endure for the emotional intensity in his works.

Does Wine Color Affect Its Taste?

David Munksgard, a winemaker at Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma, California, says he uses a bit of red wine in some of his sparkling blends to hint at what the bubbly might taste like — before patrons ever take a sip.

“It sets the stage,” Munksgard says. “If [the wine] was in a dark glass and you couldn't see, your brain wouldn't be working on that. You would just simply go on what it smells like and then what it tastes like. But you can't help it as a human being to start thinking about what that wine is going to smell and then taste like.”

Charles Spence agrees that color and other sensory phenomena can prime our brains for flavor, setting expectations about the taste that anchor our experiences when we’re actually eating and drinking. Spence leads the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford and has studied the effects of “mood lighting” on our perception of a wine’s taste. He says that our tendency to color-categorize flavors may have evolved to help us judge our food for both ripeness and toxicity.

“What kind of world would we be in if we had to put everything to our lips to ... know whether it is nutritious or poisonous or not?” Spence asks. “So our brains learned to make predictions and say, ‘OK, I've learned that when I see a ripe red fruit color, it's probably going to be sweet. When I see something that's green, probably it’s unripe, maybe sour or less nutritious.’ If I can make those predictions, then I’m in a better place to know what trees to climb for the nutritious fruits and what else to eat.”

To test the influence of color on a wine's taste, Spence and his team ran an experiment in 2014 in which they gave over 3,000 Londoners red wine in black tasting glasses, obscuring the beverage's color. They then asked people to sip the same drink under white, red and green lights and rate how they thought it tasted each time.

“What we were able to show with these 3,000 regular drinkers — not wine experts or such — is that we get about a 15 to 20 percent change in people's perception of the fruitiness or freshness of the wine, how much they liked it, simply as a function of the background illumination in the room in which they were tasting,” Spence says.

For example, Spence says that even when we can’t see into our wine glasses, a red-lit room can nonetheless prepare our brains to expect sweetness.

“When we had winemakers who came to the Color Lab, this event, they were the real experts,” Spence says. “You’d think they would not be affected by the background color — [that] they can just identify what is in the glass, and the taste and bouquet. Yet, they were coming away saying, ‘Wow, we need to know about this.’”

Spence says that other sensory information can also help us make snap judgments about a wine's character well before we sip. Did you pop a cork, or crack a screw cap? What sound did the liquid make when you poured it into the glass? Sound, Spence says, is the “forgotten flavor sense.”

“From the sound of pouring ... you can tell something about the temperature,” Spence says. “You can tell something about perhaps the glass size. You can tell something about the kind of drink that’s been poured, and maybe even the viscosity. What information is there? We never really think about it, because normally we can see the wine, and yet our brain picks up on these cues and they too can subtly change our expectations.”

What about when you (or a waiter) set the wine bottle on the table, perhaps with a satisfying thud? Spence says that too is a game of the senses, to a point.

“When we've tested or evaluated the six or seven hundred bottles in the Oxford wine store ... what you find is that for every extra pound you pay, you get eight extra grams of glass,” Spence says. “There are some producers out there who are making bottles that are maybe a two and a quarter kilograms of glass when the wine is emptied, compared to others where it's less than a kilo [when] full of wine.”

Ultimately, though, you can’t put lipstick on a pig — or pass cheap wine off as finer stuff in a heavy, stoppered bottle.

“It may be that midprice wines can be shifted all over the place, but what do you call it? ‘Two Buck Chuck?’ You might have a bigger challenge,” Spence says. “Just by putting it in a heavier bottle, you might convince some, but I think not all.”

This article is based on an interview that aired on PRI's Science Friday.

Fall Leaves' Colors May Change

Fall – what a wonderful time of year! Everyone is breaking out their sweaters, enjoying various pumpkin related delicacies and gathering together with friends and family. A particular pleasure of Fall for many is watching the trees turn from their bright summery greens into a cornucopia of colors ranging from brilliant reds to bright yellows to vibrant oranges.

But, when was the last time you took a closer look at the fallen leaves from these trees? Have you ever wondered what the discolorations, holes and pockmarks are telling you?  It turns out that a freshly fallen leaf can tell you a lot about local air quality. All you have to do is look.

Just like humans, plants have a respiratory system. Just like humans, that respiratory system is vulnerable to air pollution. Pollution ranging from factories to car exhaust turns into a grayish brown smog (ozone) in major metropolitan areas such as the Philadelphia region. This smog has a substantial impact on trees and their leaves.

Fall – what a wonderful time of year! Everyone is breaking out their sweaters, enjoying various pumpkin related delicacies and gathering together with friends and family. A particular pleasure of Fall for many is watching the trees turn from their bright summery greens into a cornucopia of colors ranging from brilliant reds to bright yellows to vibrant oranges.

But, when was the last time you took a closer look at the fallen leaves from these trees? Have you ever wondered what the discolorations, holes and pockmarks are telling you?  It turns out that a freshly fallen leaf can tell you a lot about local air quality. All you have to do is look.

Just like humans, plants have a respiratory system. Just like humans, that respiratory system is vulnerable to air pollution. Pollution ranging from factories to car exhaust turns into a grayish brown smog (ozone) in major metropolitan areas such as the Philadelphia region. This smog has a substantial impact on trees and their leaves.

Pollutants emitted from fossil fuel can bleach leaves white or turn them the traditional fall colors of brown and yellow way before the Fall months. If enough of a plant or tree’s leaves are prematurely impacted in this manner, the entire tree is at risk.

You can spot the damage done by air pollution yourself. Sulfur dioxide converts into sulfuric acid which eats holes into leaves. Smog damage on leaves appears as mottled spots which range in color from yellow to black or brown. Fluorides damage the edges of plants and cause them to turn brown or black. A particular kind of nitrate causes a condition called “Silver leaf” which turns the underside of leaves a sickly silvery white or bronze color.Fall – what a wonderful time of year! Everyone is breaking out their sweaters, enjoying various pumpkin related delicacies and gathering together with friends and family. A particular pleasure of Fall for many is watching the trees turn from their bright summery greens into a cornucopia of colors ranging from brilliant reds to bright yellows to vibrant oranges.

But, when was the last time you took a closer look at the fallen leaves from these trees? Have you ever wondered what the discolorations, holes and pockmarks are telling you?  It turns out that a freshly fallen leaf can tell you a lot about local air quality. All you have to do is look.

Just like humans, plants have a respiratory system. Just like humans, that respiratory system is vulnerable to air pollution. Pollution ranging from factories to car exhaust turns into a grayish brown smog (ozone) in major metropolitan areas such as the Philadelphia region. This smog has a substantial impact on trees and their leaves.

Pollutants emitted from fossil fuel can bleach leaves white or turn them the traditional fall colors of brown and yellow way before the Fall months. If enough of a plant or tree’s leaves are prematurely impacted in this manner, the entire tree is at risk.

You can spot the damage done by air pollution yourself. Sulfur dioxide converts into sulfuric acid which eats holes into leaves. Smog damage on leaves appears as mottled spots which range in color from yellow to black or brown. Fluorides damage the edges of plants and cause them to turn brown or black. A particular kind of nitrate causes a condition called “Silver leaf” which turns the underside of leaves a sickly silvery white or bronze color.

Pollutants emitted from fossil fuel can bleach leaves white or turn them the traditional fall colors of brown and yellow way before the Fall months. If enough of a plant or tree’s leaves are prematurely impacted in this manner, the entire tree is at risk.

You can spot the damage done by air pollution yourself. Sulfur dioxide converts into sulfuric acid which eats holes into leaves. Smog damage on leaves appears as mottled spots which range in color from yellow to black or brown. Fluorides damage the edges of plants and cause them to turn brown or black. A particular kind of nitrate causes a condition called “Silver leaf” which turns the underside of leaves a sickly silvery white or bronze color. Check the leaves in your area. Ours are still normal, but we need to clean up dirty air to continue the fall leave's gorgeous hues.

Let's Get Our Colors Back! BBL

Fall Leaves' Colors May Change

Fall – what a wonderful time of year! Everyone is breaking out their sweaters, enjoying various pumpkin related delicacies and gathering together with friends and family. A particular pleasure of Fall for many is watching the trees turn from their bright summery greens into a cornucopia of colors ranging from brilliant reds to bright yellows to vibrant oranges.

But, when was the last time you took a closer look at the fallen leaves from these trees? Have you ever wondered what the discolorations, holes and pockmarks are telling you?  It turns out that a freshly fallen leaf can tell you a lot about local air quality. All you have to do is look.

Just like humans, plants have a respiratory system. Just like humans, that respiratory system is vulnerable to air pollution. Pollution ranging from factories to car exhaust turns into a grayish brown smog (ozone) in major metropolitan areas such as the Philadelphia region. This smog has a substantial impact on trees and their leaves.

Fall – what a wonderful time of year! Everyone is breaking out their sweaters, enjoying various pumpkin related delicacies and gathering together with friends and family. A particular pleasure of Fall for many is watching the trees turn from their bright summery greens into a cornucopia of colors ranging from brilliant reds to bright yellows to vibrant oranges.

But, when was the last time you took a closer look at the fallen leaves from these trees? Have you ever wondered what the discolorations, holes and pockmarks are telling you?  It turns out that a freshly fallen leaf can tell you a lot about local air quality. All you have to do is look.

Just like humans, plants have a respiratory system. Just like humans, that respiratory system is vulnerable to air pollution. Pollution ranging from factories to car exhaust turns into a grayish brown smog (ozone) in major metropolitan areas such as the Philadelphia region. This smog has a substantial impact on trees and their leaves.

Pollutants emitted from fossil fuel can bleach leaves white or turn them the traditional fall colors of brown and yellow way before the Fall months. If enough of a plant or tree’s leaves are prematurely impacted in this manner, the entire tree is at risk.

You can spot the damage done by air pollution yourself. Sulfur dioxide converts into sulfuric acid which eats holes into leaves. Smog damage on leaves appears as mottled spots which range in color from yellow to black or brown. Fluorides damage the edges of plants and cause them to turn brown or black. A particular kind of nitrate causes a condition called “Silver leaf” which turns the underside of leaves a sickly silvery white or bronze color.Fall – what a wonderful time of year! Everyone is breaking out their sweaters, enjoying various pumpkin related delicacies and gathering together with friends and family. A particular pleasure of Fall for many is watching the trees turn from their bright summery greens into a cornucopia of colors ranging from brilliant reds to bright yellows to vibrant oranges.

But, when was the last time you took a closer look at the fallen leaves from these trees? Have you ever wondered what the discolorations, holes and pockmarks are telling you?  It turns out that a freshly fallen leaf can tell you a lot about local air quality. All you have to do is look.

Just like humans, plants have a respiratory system. Just like humans, that respiratory system is vulnerable to air pollution. Pollution ranging from factories to car exhaust turns into a grayish brown smog (ozone) in major metropolitan areas such as the Philadelphia region. This smog has a substantial impact on trees and their leaves.

Pollutants emitted from fossil fuel can bleach leaves white or turn them the traditional fall colors of brown and yellow way before the Fall months. If enough of a plant or tree’s leaves are prematurely impacted in this manner, the entire tree is at risk.

You can spot the damage done by air pollution yourself. Sulfur dioxide converts into sulfuric acid which eats holes into leaves. Smog damage on leaves appears as mottled spots which range in color from yellow to black or brown. Fluorides damage the edges of plants and cause them to turn brown or black. A particular kind of nitrate causes a condition called “Silver leaf” which turns the underside of leaves a sickly silvery white or bronze color.

Pollutants emitted from fossil fuel can bleach leaves white or turn them the traditional fall colors of brown and yellow way before the Fall months. If enough of a plant or tree’s leaves are prematurely impacted in this manner, the entire tree is at risk.

You can spot the damage done by air pollution yourself. Sulfur dioxide converts into sulfuric acid which eats holes into leaves. Smog damage on leaves appears as mottled spots which range in color from yellow to black or brown. Fluorides damage the edges of plants and cause them to turn brown or black. A particular kind of nitrate causes a condition called “Silver leaf” which turns the underside of leaves a sickly silvery white or bronze color. Check the leaves in your area. Ours are still normal, but we need to clean up dirty air to continue the fall leave's gorgeous hues.

Let's Get Our Colors Back! BBL

Colorful Bridge Lighting Planned for NYC

NY includes LED bridge lighting in color

• By VERENA DOBNIK Associated Press
 

In this artist rendering provided by the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, cars approach a fully-automated toll system 

at the entrance to New York's Queens-Midtown Tunnel in Manhattan. Cuomo has unveiled a futuristic plan for New York City that includes color LED illumination of bridges, completely automated toll booths and driver facial recognition cameras for tighter security. The governor presented what he calls his "New York Crossings Project" on Wednesday Oct. 5, 2016, at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. (NY Governor's Office via AP)

• HONS

In this artist rendering provided by the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, vehicles drive through New York's Queens-Midtown Tunnel tiled with blue and gold - the colors of the Empire State. Cuomo has unveiled a futuristic plan for New York City that includes color LED illumination of bridges, completely automated toll booths and driver facial recognition cameras for tighter security. The governor presented what he calls his "New York Crossings Project" on Wednesday Oct. 5, 2016, at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. (NY Governor's Office via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a far-reaching futuristic plan for the city 

that includes color LED illumination of bridges, completely automated toll booths and driver 

facial recognition cameras for tighter anti-terrorism security.

"So much in today's world is about the immediate, it's about the here and now, it's about 

Twitter, it's about Instagram and focusing on getting from one day to the next," said the 

 governor, who presented what he calls his New York Crossings Project at the New-York

 Historical Society. "The reality is, it's the long view that matters, and what are they going to 

say 10 years from now and 20 years from now and 30 years from now about what we 

accomplished while we were here?"

The LED illumination work on eight bridges is to begin in January, when the first totally

 automated tolls will be installed in the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel from Brooklyn to Manhattan

 and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel connecting Manhattan with Queens. Within about a year, 

on bridges, too, cars that don't use the E-ZPass electronic payment system will be billed 

using photographed images of their license plates.

Seven city bridges are operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the 

eighth, the George Washington Bridge, is operated by the Port Authority of New York and 

New Jersey. About 800,000 vehicles use MTA bridges and tunnels daily. The target date 

for completion of the lighting has not been set.

Color Prejudice

There is  a move to introduce a different color scheme into such an important event as a wedding, which is a starting point to break away from color prejudices. Traditionally, weddings have a predetermined color palette. The bride is supposed to wear only a white dress (with probably some little color added), the bouquet is also supposed to be white, either with white roses, gardenias or lilies of the valley. At times pink or light blue is added to dilute the whiteness. The tables are served with white table clothes, with a slight adding of another color. It’s a nice tradition to have a predominantly white color palette when getting married as white  is traditionally considered to have the symbolic meaning of purity, innocence, and completion. But it’s only good when a person who is getting married chooses white.

But what about the people who don’t feel like white color is the one that reflects their personality, feelings, and mood? Today's top designers try to take into consideration each individual, each taste for a different color and introduce new types of wedding dresses. One can now  choose a black wedding dress which is perfect for the person who doesn’t feel like wearing a traditional white dress. The wedding is one of the most important events in life as it symbolizes a new beginning, a new stage in life, and that’s why it is important to feel oneself comfortable on that special day. In the long run, all that matters is to express one’s uniqueness and not fall into  prejudices, as they limit the freedom of individuality.

There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ colors; all colors express different things for different people. No matter whether you make art, paint your walls or buy a dress, — choose the colors that best express your personality, but not the colors you are supposed to use. If you don’t want to get married in a white dress, — don’t do it; if you like the white color, — go for it. It’s all about individuality and freedom of expression.