tetrachromat
November 2, 2008 11:13 PM Subscribe
Do you know of any tetrachromat artists? Or any art made by a tetrachromat?
As far as I know, and also as far as that wikipedia article and it's related links mention, they have not definitively identified any tetrachromats, and there are relatively few people that have been considered likely candidates.
So I think you'll be hard pressed to find a convincing case for any positive answers to this.
I would expect tetrachromat art to look less interesting to me, who can't see the distinctions that the artist intended.
posted by aubilenon at 11:33 PM on November 2, 2008
So I think you'll be hard pressed to find a convincing case for any positive answers to this.
I would expect tetrachromat art to look less interesting to me, who can't see the distinctions that the artist intended.
posted by aubilenon at 11:33 PM on November 2, 2008
And of course, who's to say that an artist who is able to discern more subtle differences between colours would coincidentally produce art where such differences played an important role? And even if they did, the fact that they were a scientifically verified tetrachromat would likely render their technique little more than a gimmick.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:26 AM on November 3, 2008
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:26 AM on November 3, 2008
Response by poster: And of course, who's to say that an artist who is able to discern more subtle differences between colours would coincidentally produce art where such differences played an important role?
In this link that I got off the Wiki entry:
And sometimes the edge may just be aesthetic.
Which could be why, when Susan Hogan's husband puts a new piece of fruit in their fruit bowl, "I have to rearrange it so the colors go together right," she said with a laugh.
So I figured if we could look a bunch of tetrachromat art we could compare the palettes used to those used by non-tetrachromats.
And even if they did, the fact that they were a scientifically verified tetrachromat would likely render their technique little more than a gimmick.
Not if the art was produced before the scientific verification.
posted by Taksi Putra at 3:18 AM on November 3, 2008
In this link that I got off the Wiki entry:
And sometimes the edge may just be aesthetic.
Which could be why, when Susan Hogan's husband puts a new piece of fruit in their fruit bowl, "I have to rearrange it so the colors go together right," she said with a laugh.
So I figured if we could look a bunch of tetrachromat art we could compare the palettes used to those used by non-tetrachromats.
And even if they did, the fact that they were a scientifically verified tetrachromat would likely render their technique little more than a gimmick.
Not if the art was produced before the scientific verification.
posted by Taksi Putra at 3:18 AM on November 3, 2008
I think all this is wrong. A tetrachromat might not know that she is one (as I understand it, tetrachromaticity can only occur in women). Even if she does, I doubt she'd be able to easily pinpoint the color differences that she can see and the rest of us can't. Even assuming she could, and did work that into her art, the rest of us would have no way of perceiving it. The tetrachromat might be using green and green' in different ways, but we'd only be seeing green.
posted by adamrice at 10:03 AM on November 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by adamrice at 10:03 AM on November 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
H you considered conducting your own search for a tetrachromat?
The most likely configuration would be someone who can see the difference between a swatch that reflects light of the colour orange/brown, and a swatch that reflects light of the colours red and green, and thus looks like the same orange/brown to us.
Make those swatches, and a few control swatches, and see if you know anyone who can pick blended orange from pure orange.
Making the red-green swatch is easy, because we can trust that red is red and green is green and if we put them in close proximity, they stay red and green under a magnifying glass until seen at viewing distance, where they appear orange.
Making the true orange swatch is hard, because we don't know which things are pure orange light and which are mixed. I would suggest using LEDs and photo-diodes of specific wavelengths, and/or gels where the light transmission is graphed by wavelength, to build a colour checker that can sort pure orange from mixed wavelength orange.
Or, easier: Build an instrument based on a prism or diffraction grating to split reflected light into it's components, and use that to identify things you can use to make your swatches.
Or easier still: Drop the swatch idea altogether and compare LEDs. Orange LEDs are pure orange, and red and green LEDs lit at the same time make orange light. Tweak the resistors until both oranges match, then put them both in a box behind paper to better hide the difference between one LED and two, and you have electronic swatches for homebrew tetrochromat detection.
posted by -harlequin- at 12:07 PM on November 3, 2008 [2 favorites]
The most likely configuration would be someone who can see the difference between a swatch that reflects light of the colour orange/brown, and a swatch that reflects light of the colours red and green, and thus looks like the same orange/brown to us.
Make those swatches, and a few control swatches, and see if you know anyone who can pick blended orange from pure orange.
Making the red-green swatch is easy, because we can trust that red is red and green is green and if we put them in close proximity, they stay red and green under a magnifying glass until seen at viewing distance, where they appear orange.
Making the true orange swatch is hard, because we don't know which things are pure orange light and which are mixed. I would suggest using LEDs and photo-diodes of specific wavelengths, and/or gels where the light transmission is graphed by wavelength, to build a colour checker that can sort pure orange from mixed wavelength orange.
Or, easier: Build an instrument based on a prism or diffraction grating to split reflected light into it's components, and use that to identify things you can use to make your swatches.
Or easier still: Drop the swatch idea altogether and compare LEDs. Orange LEDs are pure orange, and red and green LEDs lit at the same time make orange light. Tweak the resistors until both oranges match, then put them both in a box behind paper to better hide the difference between one LED and two, and you have electronic swatches for homebrew tetrochromat detection.
posted by -harlequin- at 12:07 PM on November 3, 2008 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 11:28 PM on November 2, 2008