The mechanism of adaptation allows the visual cortex to recognise previously seen colours under different lighting conditions. Quantum Field Ω2 uses additive RGB light to cycle a graduated transitional hue through 360 degrees within an otherwise neutral colour-field to stimulate and confound the senses.
The Quantum series of videos and stills considers the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the nature of matter in relation to colour theory and the science of sight. The human eye sees just a narrow bandwidth of the electromagnetic radiation emitting from the sun that extends from radio waves to gamma rays. Our trichromatic (RGB) binocular vision registers wavelengths from red to violet using three sets of cone receptors concentrated in the foveal area of the retina. The sense of sight accounts for up to 80 percent of the brain’s sensory activity and the visual cortex constructs ‘vision’ on the basis of the stimulus levels detected across the retina in conjunction with an ongoing memory / mapping process of recall.
The computer created assemblages of graduated / transitional hue represent an artificial stimulus of the visual cortex, generating colour relationships that are alien to the natural world. Satisfying and intriguing in equal measure, the Quantum series draws upon and extends two centuries of colour theory in the fields of science and the arts.