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"Colour and Mood Study Brings Science to Aesthetics"

4 Comments -

1 – 4 of 4
Blogger A.K. said...

Tee hee. This is fun, although it is hard to tell how good the science is. Did you notice that the lead researcher, Peter Whorwell, is identified as Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology? One thing I know for sure: eating grey food is never good for my mood. But blueberries and lemons do make me happy.

February 9, 2010 at 10:41 PM

Blogger Leah Sandals said...

Hey AK,

Yeah, I saw the sample size was what... 100? 200?

Funny, there's still something about the story that resonates... maybe it's the grey-food morality tale contained therein?

I think I was also drawn to it because I'm fascinated by the way decorative colour plays out in different cities. In Toronto and other urban centres, you could spend days cataloguing the ways people manage to combine grey and black to create unique outfits. And most of the cars in Toronto are monochromatic as well. While in St. John's they're all this wine-maroon color for some reason.

Anyway, point taken!

February 10, 2010 at 8:59 PM

Blogger Nihili said...

"The Colour Wheel could also be used to help people with communication problems or those in whom English is not their first language."

Uh-oh. That's what I was afraid of. Just because a survey is done scientifically, that doesn't mean it has universal applicability. It's pretty well understood that colour has different meaningful resonances in varying cultures.

That said, I read a great case study in Olivers Sacks' The Anthropologist on Mars about a guy who lost all his colour perception. Everything appeared to him in black and white. For months he was severly, dangerously depressed, as if the life and meaning had gone out of everything. He had a hard time eating foods because they looked disgusting without colour. He could only eat stuff that was black and white to begin with. But other aspects of his perception were enhanced, interesting contrasts and a kind of sharpening of edges and detail. Eventually he got into it. Also he was a painter (poor guy) and so at first he couldn't work, but in the end he started making really great stuff in black and white. After a long period of adjustment he came to really like his new world.

February 11, 2010 at 10:19 AM

Blogger Leah Sandals said...

Wow, that Oliver Sacks story sounds really interesting -- had never heard of it before. Thanks Nihili/Sally.

February 11, 2010 at 5:14 PM

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