Colors 1: Transitions, 1-24
Colors 1: Transitions, 25 and higher
Colors 1: Transitions, Near Gray
Artist's Statement on Colors 1: Transitions
The first two parts of this group of works consist of of 43.7 X 57.2 inch prints, each consisting of a 16-by-16 grid of 256 rectangles of solid colors, with a very thin white line (about .008 inches) between each. They look their best in the actual prints. (In some of the 256 rectangles, the upper side looks different from the lower, but this is an optical illusion.) Each print shows a gradual transition in 255 steps from one color to another, using the almost invisibly fine gradations of digital imaging. The first 24 in the series, each in an edition of 12, show the transitions between white, black, and the primary and secondary colors. The second part of this group shows transitions between colors selected using random numbers and their approximate complements. These are issued in unique editions of one, and I will make up to 120 different ones. Each print in the third part of this group, the "Near Grays," is 29.7 X 38.5 inches, consisting of a five-by-five grid of 25 rectangles. and is a unique edition of one.
Because most ink and paper combinations have a more limited color gamut than is theoretically possible in digital imaging, some of the solid color or very dark areas may show almost no change within a row or two. I decided to leave these in rather than restricting the colors to only those that my inks can render accurately, because part of the point of this series is to reveal the nature of the particular digital printing used in my work. The color grids, seen in relation to my prints of photographs, are meant to show the underlying "materials" out of which the photos are printed. They also have, I hope, a greater generality than images of actual objects, creating a kind of open field for the viewer's imagination.
Each print can be hung "rightside-up" or "upside-down," and is signed twice on the back to indicate this. These alternate hangings help reveal the arbitrariness of all human constructions, whether of images or of colors. Fred Camper
