A Discussion on Indigo

Something we’ve been thinking about as we do the Rainbow Project at the studio: Do we include Indigo in our Rainbow? If we do, how do we introduce it to the children? We know Indigo is part of the Rainbow because of the acronym ROY G BIV, but how do we describe Indigo, where does it come from, and what does it actually look like?

The easiest way to explain Indigo is “that color between Blue and Violet.” My question is, if we’re talking about the color between Blue and Violet, why don’t we talk about the color between Red and Orange? Or the color between Yellow and Green?

We know that the visible spectrum is continuous, meaning the colors shift from one to the next, without clear boundaries between colors, so identification of the named colors can certainly vary person to person. Is Indigo a valuable contribution to our color naming system, other than allowing us to pronounce ROY G BIV?

In the 1660’s Isaac Newton identified 7 colors in the visible spectrum, including Indigo, which was named for the plant Indigofera, from which Indigo dyes are extracted.

But there has been some speculation that the seven colors were chosen by Newton somewhat arbitrarily to correlate with the 7 notes in the western major scale in music and the 7 days of the week. The common idea among current color scientists seems to be that Indigo is not to be included in the visible spectrum, as it is not visibly distinct from Blue or Violet. In 1975, author and scientist Isaac Asimov wrote:

“It is customary to list indigo as a color lying between blue and violet, but it has never seemed to me that indigo is worth the dignity of being considered a separate color. To my eyes it seems merely deep blue.”

Wikipedia lists a series of colors that could be considered Indigo, depending on who you ask. Here are just a few.

In Bullseye Glass, they have two colors they describe as Indigo: Indigo (0148), and Indigo Tint (1818). I think Cobalt (0114) and Deep Cobalt (0147) could be Indigo, too.

We enjoy the ambiguity of Indigo. As with so many things in Art, there is no right and wrong answer. Teaching children about Indigo could be an interesting exercise in coming to realize that much more in life is subjective than we are generally taught in school. Though there is importance in the objective Truths of “book learning,” there is also great value in our many differing perspectives. Let’s celebrate our differences!

Which Indigo do you prefer? Will you be including Indigo in your Rainbow?

sources:
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~afrank/A105/LectureV/LectureV.html
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/exhibit-spectrum.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_spectrum
http://shop.bullseyeglass.com/
http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx

The Rainbow Project in gallery One One

Every year, gallery One One at Brazee Street Studios hosts an exhibition of glass artwork made entirely by students ages 3-18. This year, it was all about the Rainbow!

Part of the exhibition involved suspending the Rainbows made by The New School Montessori (see previous post) and a few other Cincinnati schools this spring (more on those coming soon), so the rainbows could be viewed by the public before they reach their final destinations.

To get even more children involved, Brazee Street School of Glass offered mini sun catcher workshops inspired by each color of the rainbow. In these workshops, each student created a composition for the gallery, until there were enough to form a Rainbow spanning 10 feet.

Dozens of families joined us in celebration of the exhibition opening on Friday, June 14th, 2013, and the young artists were invited to sign the guestbook for their show.

The night of the opening, visitors were given the opportunity to create more sun catchers to contribute to the big Rainbow, so it will continue to grow in the coming weeks.

We hope that seeing their work on display will be something to remember for years to come, giving these young artists a continuing appreciation for the arts, a sense of belonging in our community, and the motivation to keep creating.

The Glass Rainbow Project will be on display at gallery One One until the closing reception on Friday, July 12th, 2013. Click here to view more photos from the June opening.