Exchanging Complements

Michael Dooney

This work is an installation which reveals various visual phenomena experienced when complementary colours are used in combination. An enclosed white room is used as the canvas for the installation; the three traditional primary colours, red, yellow and blue are presented and exchanged with their respective complementary colour in a continuous loop of visual stimuli. Upon entering the space the participant is presented with a hyper real colour saturated environment, which will challenge their notions of how the brain interprets visual signals; including coloured after image, colour adaptation and spatial perception.

Accompanying this display of colour is an ambient sound track which subtly changes during each transition; heightening the visual effect.

The effect of the dramatic change from one colour to another is similar to the physiological temporary blindness experienced when going from a very bright space to a dark one. However in this instance rather than the rods being activated and the cones deactivated, different colour receptors will be simultaneously stimulated and depressed

A form of sensory deprivation results in the colour saturated environment, in this case colour deprivation. A side effect of this can sometimes be the appearance of shapes and colours which are not present within the visual field, as the brain attempts to achieve equilibrium of the visual environment. The saturated colours also cause recognition of detail to be more difficult, and distort the spatial dimension of the space.

The aim of the work is to present the science of light and vision in an artistic and tangible environment. In doing so giving the general public the opportunity to experience the effect of coloured light on a physiological level as well as an observational one.