farbenfroh (2021) is painting equipment that integrates earth pigment-based watercolor into rocking hemispheres as a transforming element for creative play and artistic work. Experience the color palette through visual perception and feel the quality of the surface on the medium.

 

Earth pigments, contrary to plant-based dyes, are insoluble in water which means they are physically and chemically unaffected by the mediums. Lauren Sauder states they, “(…) come from naturally occurring minerals, typically iron oxide or manganese oxide. Through the process of grinding, geological material can become a pigment powder." (https://www.laurensauder.com/earth-pigments)

 

farbenfroh (2021) consists of 24 paint pots of opposing color chords, translating a slice of the ‘dictionary of color combinations’ by the Japanese artist Wada Sanzo with soil pigments. Wada Sanzo was an influential Japanese painter, costume designer, and color theorist. He pioneered the dictionary, which was first published in 1935. Die Zeit applauded the publication as a source of inspiration filled with a captivating array of “hues we didn’t even know existed.” (https://www.printedmatter.org/catalog/56601/)

 

Besides the paint equipment, an accompanying booklet gives an overview of the pigment's geographical location, color theory, and art-historical significance, as well as fun facts about rocks. It is, after all, an invitation to paint with metamorphic rock such as lapis lazuli and slate.

 

It is a matter of communicating art and science where eyes and touch understand everything.