CHArt Eighteenth Annual Conference

Mary Pearce, Kingston University, UK
Animating Art History: Digital Ways of Studying Colour in Abstract Art

The study of art history has been greatly enriched through the possibilities of digital media. Multimedia, particularly, offers the capacity to combine interactivity, a graphic interface, sound, animation and of organising information in a matrix of cross-references. The project to be demonstrated consists of an analytical study of the role of colour in early twentieth century abstract art, created as a multimedia presentation. The focus is on paintings from three distinct eras and includes the work of Orphist, Bauhaus and Abstract Expressionist artists as examples. In keeping with the methodology of these painters, multimedia was chosen to illustrate interrelated themes of music, calligraphy, visual poetry and issues of time and space. Hence this subject matter and period within modernism was suited to the advantages of multimedia, and the user can both grasp the technical qualities of colour as a sensual experience, and approach the analysis of paintings through interactive participation. Overall, this means of presentation has proved a fruitful way to broaden the perception of colour and can be adapted for use in art schools, gallery situations or distance learning courses. During the demonstration, I will outline the rationale behind some of the presentational design decisions, select examples of the flexibility of multimedia and suggest advantages it might have for a digital art history.

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