AChild'sView 01Color

Color is sornerhing spirirual, somerhing whuse cb rit)' is spirinml, so rha rwhen colors are mixed [he)' prod uce nuances (Jf color, nor a hluT. Thcrainbow is a purc childlike imngc. In ir color is wholly conrour: for rheI'

A Child's view of Color 5 1

wh ich to creare rhe inrerrelared romliry nf rhe world of the imaginarion. T heimaginarion can be dcvelopcd only by conremplcring colors a nd deeling wirhthem in th is fashio l1; ouly in rhis way ':'1l1 ir he bor h satisf ied and kcpt wirhinbounds. Wherever ir applies irself ro rhe plasric arts, ir recomes overly lcsh,rhe samc apphcs ro hisrory, and in rnusic ir is srerile. For thc facr is rhar rheimaglnation never engages wirh form, which IS rhe concem of rbe lnw, burca n onlv conrernpla re the living world from a h uman po inr of view crear ivelyin feeling. This rakes place rhrough color. which fo r rhar rcason cannor besingle and pure, fo r then ir remans dull. lnstead, wherever ir is not confinedro illusrrating uhjects, ir must be full uf li ~hr and shnde, full uf mcvement,a rb itra r}' and always beauriful. In rhis respcct, wlo ring-in has a purerpedagogica l function rha n pairuing, so lo ng as ir mak es rrunspa ren r andfresh surfaces, rarhe r rhan rendering the blotchy skin of rhings. Prod acriveadulrs de rive no support fmm color; for rhem co lor can subsisr o nly wirhnlaw-given circumsrunces. T heir rask is ro providc a world o rdcr, nor ro graspinnerrnosr reasons and essenccs bur ro develop them. In a child's life, coloris rhe pure express ion of rhe child's p ure recepnvity; insofar as ir is directedat the wo rld. Ir conrains an implicir insrrucnon 10 alife o f rhe spinr whichis no more dependenr on accidenta l circumstances for its creariviry thancolor, fo r all its receptivity, is capa hle of cornrnunicaring abour rhe exisrencec f dcad, causal reality,

Child ren's d ruwin gs rake cclorfulness as their poinr o f depa rrure. T heirgoal is co lor in irs greatcst possible transpurencv, and rhere is no referencero form, a rea , o r concentrar ion inro a single space. For a pu re vision iscc ncemed nor with spnce and o hjccts h ur wirh color, w hich rnusr indeed heccncemed with o bjecrs bu r not with spatially organized ohjects. As an art,painring sta rts from narurc and movcs cumulatively roward form. T heconcem of color wi rh ohjecrs is nor bnsed on rheir form; withour eventouching o n rhem empi rica lly. ir goes righr to rhe spiritual hean of rhe a hjectby isolat ing rhe sense o f sight. Ir cancels our rhe intellectua l cross referelKesof rhe so ul anJ ;;reares a pure mood , wirho ut rhereoy sacrificing rhe wurld .Colorfulncss docs no! srimu lare {he animal senses bccause the child's UlKor-rupted imaginari\'e acrivity sp rings fro m the so ul. But because ch ild ren seewit h pure eyes, wirhour allo wing I h em~e1ves ro he emotiona lly d isconl'erred,ir is somerh in; spirirual: rhe ra inhow refers not 10 a chaste ahst ra,:tion ourro a hfe in a rt. The o rJer of a rt lS paraJl sla;al hccause there IS no tho ughto f rhe J issolllt iun of oo undaries-fro rn exciternc nr-in rh ~' Roon..y Livinll:sro n...

A Child's view of colorA Child's view of color 2