Colour and on/off

As the project has progressed the initial ideas have developed and consequently I am now trying to something that is quite different from the original plan. As previously outlined it became unlikely that I would find a method of producing a square beam of light, and also to make it bend or contract. Since then I have discovered follow spots, which can produce a relatively collimated beam over the distance that I intend to throw it over. On the follow spot that I tested there was a magazine fitted to the front that contained 5 different colour filters, and a metal disk that could be moved into place that would give the impression that the light had been turned off.



This led me to the idea of having three separate light columns that would be able to change colour and turn on or off (similarly to Siegrun Appelt) as users moved around them. In order for this to be achievable the sensors would have to be connected via a computer to a system that could move the filters back and forth in front of the lights. Such a system would allow for three columns of light to change colour and to appear (turn on) or disappear (turn off). Although this is quite different from the original plan I feel confidant that this would be an effective piece of work.

What Colour?

As there are three columns of light I wanted to keep the colour scheme to three colours as well. The most common colour model is RGB (red, green and blue). Red, green, and blue are the primary stimuli for human color perception and are the primary additive colors. The relationship between the colors can be seen in this illustration below:



The secondary colors of RGB, cyan, magenta, and yellow, are formed by the mixture of two of the primaries and the exclusion of the third. Red and green combine to make yellow, green and blue make cyan, blue and red make magenta.
The combination of red, green, and blue in full intensity makes white. White light is created when all colors of the EM spectrum converge in full intensity. This is something that I can consider with the order of colour changes within the installation.

RGB as a color model relates very closely to the way that we perceive color with the r g b receptors in our retinas. RGB is the basic color model used in television or any other medium that projects the color. It is the basic color model on computers and is used for Web graphics, but it cannot be used for print production.

Due to the importance of RGB, and the fact that in full intensity they make white light, the other form of light present in the installation, I think that it is highly appropriate to use the colour scheme in the installation.