COCO 35 Color in Art and Philosophy
Western philosophers have long asked how we should square what the sciences tell us about ourselves as perceivers with what we seem to know about ourselves from the first person standpoint. Color and color perception are central examples of this problem. But most philosophers and scientists who work on color do so independently of another field in which color is both a problem and a material: painting. Painters make work out of color, and develop a subtle understanding of what color is by mixing and juxtaposing pigments. This course introduces students to the problems of color from both the painter’s and the philosopher’s perspective. Students will gain familiarity with philosophical theories of color as well as theories of color sourced in painting. They will develop the ability to work with paint and chromatic light so as to bring about different effects. And they will learn how materials such as paints and lights might be brought together into works. They will understand how a painter’s approach to color can inform the philosophical theories they learn, and, conversely, how the philosophy might influence how we think of painting.