Color Mixer
New York, NY
2012

Color lends itself well to experimentation. It is reliable but surprising, makes for great subjectivity-objectivity debates, and documents beautifully. It is typical to study color either as pigment (where the primaries are Red-Yellow-Blue and blend towards black) or light (where the primaries are Red-Green-Blue and blend towards white). Since the same laws of physics govern every experience of color, I like to approach the subject through both modes simultaneously.

This modified fishbowl is a way to test the effect of different colors of light on different pigments and surfaces. It has a round membrane potentiometer (a sensor like the one inside an iPod scroll wheel), which controls the hue of three RGB LEDs. The LEDs are casting light on a color wheel of Scarlet, Transparent Red Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Cerulean Blue, and Ultramarine Blue.