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The following can be read by itself, or as a continuation
of the "Loving
Colors" story in the previous issue.
Oh playful kitties, oh Hush, oh Brush, oh irresponsible
artist kitties!
To recap the original tale, the Color Kittens:
Hush and Brush, wanted to make green paint. By trial
and error they mixed one primary color with another
and observed, comparing the resulting product to
a range of natural objects of known colors. For
instance, after mixing blue and red they saw it
made the same color as plums and Impressionist shadows:
purple. To their eyes yellow and red blended into
a mixture that looked like both oranges and bumblebees.
By process of elimination they eventually produced
the color they most craved, a green that fulfilled
all their color fantasies. Along the way toward
their goal, they broke from primary colors and added
white and black.
Fortunately, Hush and Brush, the two color kittens,
suffered no ill effects as a result of their escapades,
despite their use of one gallon buckets of oil based
paint. Latex paints were not commonly available
in 1949, so the Color Kittens would have had to
use the more dangerous oil paint, loaded with nasty
solvents and lead. Studies show that prolonged exposure
to lead, a common ingredient in oil based house
paint, and the breathing of paint fumes, can precipitate
serious health consequences. Curiosity didn't kill
the kittens, in this case.
The kittens' finale in the book, spilling large
quantities of paint upon the ground, has positive
and negative connotations. The event represents
both an environmental disaster, the intentional
dumping of multicolor, hazardous chemicals, and
anticipates the work of painter Morris Louis'
poured veils of color on large canvases. But that
was then and this is now.
The color kittens, being felines, had nine lives
and made the most of them. Hush and Brush grew into
color cats and produced countless progeny, a few
of whom followed in their famous paw prints. Hush's
great grandson was called Spike. Spike was a painter
of large scale acrylic paintings on well primed
stretched canvas. The paintings were abstract and
magical, filled with a joyous celebration of color.
The grandchild of Brush was the aptly-named Mr.
Lady. Mr. Lady held advanced degrees in physics,
chemistry, psychology and was a practicing ophthalmologist.
Mr. Lady was fixed. Together they revived the family
tradition that their famous ancestors had forged
in the field of color study.
Clank & Bang - Color Kittens V4.5 to the rescue!
The wheels of the world of commerce are lubricated
by the desires of the public. What happens if the
big wheels behind the steering wheel of commerce
don't know what color their customers desire? Well,
that's just not going to happen because smart business
tycoons already know the desires of their customers
ahead of time, because they've purchased the services
of a color forecaster!
And can you guess who the best color forecasting
consultants in the business might be? Yes. It's
Clank & Bang, a.k.a. Color Kittens V4.5. That
would be Spike Bang and Mr. Lady Clank.
The service they provide is designed to anticipate
changes in color preferences in the general public.
They predict which colors will be popular during
the next production cycle, so that hot pink doohickeys
could be produced if the doohickey buying clientele
express a strong preference for things colored hot
pink. Conversely, blue jean manufacturers might
be warned to make a different shade of denim, if
color forecasting predicts a shift in taste to something
specific.
Our new generation Color Kittens were searching
for different green to make themselves happy. They
were looking for the next "green" to satisfy
the demands of public taste. What might make them
happy was not a consideration, not an issue. Generating
data which could be analyzed and converted to marketable
information was the point. Basically, the method
was to produce a collection of subtly different
colors which would be shown to, tested upon, large
sample groups with the hope of determining which
colors created positive reactions, more positive
than other colors. These colors would then be identified
as "the" colors to "invest"
in, or place secure bets on, for their attractiveness
to the acquisitive population. In exchange for their
predictions, the Color Kittens would get lots of
"green" wampum.
But how is it that our color kittens can be relied
upon for accurate predictions? Well, as they, themselves
state, they do not claim to be 100% accurate. What
they do produce is the most trusted projection founded
on sound testing and in-depth analysis. That still
sounds like they just mix some colors together,
put the mixtures in front of some people and announce
the results. The mystery of the thought underlying
it all reveals itself as Spike, and the aptly-named
Mr. Lady, allow us to tag along on the journey.
As Spike explains, the perception of color is dependent
upon a light source, an object's ability to absorb
and reflect certain wavelengths of light, and receptors
in the beholder (whether it is a cat or a bee or
a human) to pass the data on to the brain and translate
it into color. The most often overlooked aspect
of received color input is what use the receptor
will make of the information.
Mr. Lady points out that a bee's color needs relate
to survival and not pleasure. A dog's color perception
is virtually non-existent, by traditional theory,
making smell and sound of more significance. A color
book written by dogs would have three pages, one
black, one gray, one white. For example, fictional
Color Puppies want to make their favorite color
gray. They knock over a can of white paint and a
can of black paint and run around in it for awhile.
They get tired and fall asleep. The end.
In truth, dogs do perceive and can differentiate
colors. Scientific studies have shown that dogs
have fewer cones and those are distributed more
like in the eye of a red/green color blind human.
Canines are capable of seeing and recognizing color,
but they don't concern themselves with color. Color
plays no role in a dog's world. Smells and sounds
are far more critical. A dog would definitely NOT
have a favorite color. A favorite smell or sound,
perhaps.
Nonfictional cats possess the optical equipment
necessary to see in color. Thus far scientific studies
have not succeeded in training a cat to tell the
difference between blue and yellow. We know cats
are easily litter box trained. Some have been trained
to stand on a toilet seat.
But when it comes to colors, while they probably
can see as well, or better than dogs, they do not
rely on color for survival. Cats are thought to
perceive sensations beyond the limits of human eyes.
Humans can get a sense of this ability by observing
any cat. Humans will notice the cat follow beams
of light and seem to track objects invisible to
human eyes. Maybe they can see infrared or beyond
the limits of human vision, just as dogs can hear
those high pitched whistles. It has been falsely
reported cats prefer green. Recall that neither
Hush nor Brush actually said they felt one way or
another about green. Their "search for green"
may have only been a misinterpreted example of kittenish
curiosity. In truth, cats neither like nor hate
one color over another.
Bulls, however, seem to hate red. Perhaps it makes
them mad that this is the only color they are able
to see. One other species is known to have emotional
responses to color.
Homo sapiens access only a portion of the full
spectrum, which we identify as the "visible
spectrum." Within that spectrum, a narrow band
of wavelengths are identified within the "white
light range" as green, yellow, orange, red,
violet, and blue. Humans make use of the visible
spectrum for keys to survival, pleasure, identification,
and numerous applications. Unsubstantiated claims
have been made that colors can trigger human emotions.
Seeing red, being green with envy, and feeling
blue are hackneyed attempts to tie emotions with
colors. One does not become sad while looking at
blue, neither will red enrage a sane person or the
color of green make one envious. "Oh, you must
have been in a black mood when you wrote that",
chuckled Spike. Interestingly, while human individuals
can claim color preferences, they can also develop
color aversions, and undergo a change in color taste.
This is the ongoing quest of color forecasting:
to discover the early signs of a cultural shift
in color taste. What subtle prismatic phenomenon
will become more pervasive with a large segment
of the population? Which colors and shades will
be fashionable next season? Will pink be the “new
black”? Or will black be the “new black”?
Are we finding clues which predict a transition,
or are we creating a "must have" desire
amongst consumers of doohickeys? Spike and Mr. Lady
purr and pounce as they provide you with their data
and analysis.
Is it not enough to remind you that cats neither
love nor hate particular colors?
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