If a rock enthusiast heard the term “another brick in the wall”, he or she would most likely associate it with Pink Floyd. If a construction worker were presented with the term, he or she would most likely associate it with a request for further assemblage. If artist and color theorist, Josef Albers came across the term he would most likely associate it with the Bezold effect.
The Bezold effect is an optical illusion by use of color. Depending on its placement, color may appear to be different depending on its relation to different colors. This effect takes place when small areas of color are interspersed. For example, if you look at a plate of red bricks with white mortar, and compare them to a plate of red bricks with dark mortar, the plate with the dark mortar will appear to be a darker red. However, the reds of both plates are exactly the same hue.
This effect holds true for several color relations. The change of one color can alter both the light and weight of the original. Usually it occurs when the colors replaced or subtracted include black or white. Adding white will bring out the tint of the color and adding black will bring out its shade. This color effect provides a visual deception for its viewer.
I myself have been a victim of the Bezold effect. This ruse happened about a year ago. I was painting my room and I had purchased a beautiful purple colored paint. I was afraid to go too light with the purple particularly because it would not match the décor of my room. Thankfully, when I went to the store to purchase my paint I found the perfect color. It was not too dark and not too light, but just right, leaving me to feel like a regular Goldilocks.
When I got home I proceeded to paint my room with the purple paint, but as it was applied to the first wall I was outraged. This was not the same color I had so meticulously picked out the week before. In a heated fury I drove back to the paint store to demand my money back. I found the same employee who mixed my paint, and I vehemently waved the color swatch in front of his face. He told me to calm down and assured me that he had mixed the correct paint. We compared the color number to the can and he even showed me the physical proof of the same paint stick he had used to mix it just hours before. I was speechless; in complete denial. I had double, even triple-checked my color source before I purchased the actual paint! How could this happen?!
Once I returned home, I found that there was no other option at the moment except to keep the “light” purple color as a temporary accent wall. The next day after the paint was completely dry, I returned my furniture to my room. After everything was back in their ordered place, I was astounded at the finished décor. This time it was not because of the wrong color but it was because of the right color! The purple color I had originally picked out was staring right back at me! I was dumbfounded.
Months later I enrolled in an art class that taught an introductory course in color theory. It was not until then when I discovered the answer behind the painting mystery and mayhem. I learned about the Bezold effect and realized that the physical color of my paint had not changed but the color relation had changed. When I first began to paint my wall, the three other white walls that surrounded it made the purple appear lighter. After I moved my black furniture back in to my room, the color returned to the original darker shade I had perceived at the paint store. Ultimately, it was the purple’s relation to the white and black accents in my room that caused my painting perception to go awry.
Color is a real concept we come in contact every day, and as you can see I know from experience. It is conceptual part of a design, whether it is used for decorating a room or a constructing a brick wall. It is an omnipresent force and a powerful influence on perception. So what am I most likely to think of when I hear the phrase “another brick in the wall”? Purple paint.
Image Source 1: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01121/bezold-effect_1121079i.jpg
Image Source 2: http://media.photobucket.com/image/purple%20paint/naomifuj/purple-paint.jpg
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