5 Talks, 18 Colors

They exist, the uncertainty in the choice of colors and the arbitrariness of the conventional selection of colors in the digital field of respective graphics programs. The limitless possibilities lead to an arbitrary choice of color. Based on this malady, Marcel Strauss explores how others deal and work with color.

The publication 5 Conversations, 18 Colors documents conversations with people who are familiar with the subject. The pigment-maker David Kremer who makes long-lost pigments and recipes accessible again, the architect Markus Grob who deals with precise observations of the effect of color in architecture, the photographer Shirana Shahbazi, whose focus on color production process is an essential part of her work, the art and graphic design collective Maximage who operate at the limits of the possible with their unconventional print experiments and their color library, and Zurich lithographer Thomi Wolfensberger who is known above all for his color and print expertise in the art field.

At the same time, the publication attempts to get to the bottom of the matter - by closer inspection - from the quarry to the scanning electron microscope and the lithographic print to the state-of-the-art digital printing. Where does color come from? How can a hue be so precisely reproduced? Can it be described informally? How many colors are required? Why do some colors appear duller or more lifeless than their radiant neighbor? The publication deals with these questions with the help of different media and tools: In screen printing, by means of Risographs and laser printing, the color appears on the paper and colors the conversations. In this way, speaking about color is set aside in favour of the act of seeing.