Thursday, April 30, 2009

Colors as Sounds

"YELLOW, for example, possesses the special capacity to 'ascend' higher and higher and to attain heights unbearable to the eye and the spirit; the sound of a trumpet playing higher and higher becoming more and more 'pointed', giving pain to the ear and to the spirit. BLUE, with the completely opposite power to 'descend' into infinite depths, develops the sounds of the flute (when it is light blue), of the cello (when it has descended farther), of the double bass with its magnificent deep sounds; and in the depths of the organ you 'see' the depths of blue. GREEN is well balanced and corresponds to the medium and the attenuated sounds of the violin...and RED (vermillion) can give the impression of strong drum beats, etc."


Wassily Kandinsky, "The Art of Spiritual Harmony" [1912].

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