Customer Reviews

Interaction of Color: Text of the Original Edition With Revised Plate Section

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Previous reviews have bemoaned a lack of color plates. I just wanted to clarify that the 2006 Revised & Expanded edition has many more than the 8 or 10 mentioned by other reviewers. In the version I purchased (2006), the back half, approx., of the book is devoted to color plates that refer back to the chapters where particular principles are discussed. The color plates are on the right leaf, and an explanation of said plate is on the left. In the margin of the left, a reference back to the chapter/section in the book is made so that further reading on each principle is easy to locate. This is perhaps a little more awkward than having the plates sprinkled within the chapter/sections themselves, but for the cost of the book, this is an entirely acceptable method of sharing both written information and visual reinforcement. I counted more than 35 plates in the book.

As another reviewer states the original had 150 color plates this version has only 8 in mine. The visual phenomena are so complex that without the plates you can't possibly accurately understand what the book is talking about. Sure you could make you own examples, but if you did, you would NOT be sure, given the complex examples, that you understood what the author was talking about. Instead you will have a false understanding or incomplete understanding that will make you look foolish. The publisher is cashing in on the author's previous great work without really republishing it. This is the lowest I've ever rated a book.

When originally published, Albers' book had 150 plates. Not surprising for a treatise on the use of color in art. However, when you chop it down to 10 color plates, as is the case with this "pocket" volume, something is lost. Never-the-less, Albers is clearly a master of this topic, and his poetic prose is inspiring. Let's hope that the original volume is reprinted at some point.

As an art student at Idaho State University in 1970, we used this resource as a basis for our studies. To this date, I feel it is the one book from which I learned the real meaning of color and how we perceive it and how to make it do what we want it to do in the things we create. I have never seen an approach like this, and the color studies were the ultimate learning experience for me. There's nothing like it!

Having experienced the original hardcover version, and having been given the task of going through the excersizes given in the book, the softcover version is useful, but not nearly as comprehensive and in depth as the original hardcopy.
Still a worthwhle read from a master theorist!
Better than a good read is to get a hold of a packet of Colored Paper and replicate some of the assignments in the book. Best way to learn.

How can someone put this title on a book and then exclude color examples? To really appreciate what Albers is trying to tell you, you must have examples to lay side-by-side and this paperback does not facilitate that. So I went to the public library to examine the hardback edition, all 20+ pounds of it. And guess what. The text is without examples. But there is a collection of colored paper appendicies that you can use to follow his examples. So buy the paperback and get a package of assorted colored paper and you may succeed in comprehending what Albers is trying to tell us.

He apparently spent his entire career thinking about this subject and he has insights that are very valuable. Unfortunately his writing style reminded me of a few philosophy classes I slept through in college. You have to work very hard to capture the flavor of all of his thinking and observations. If I am pesistent and frequently consume small portions, maybe in time I will feast on his experience.

This study will be of equal interest to scientists and artists. Although the author invites students to recreate his studies using colored paper scavenged from various sources, those interested in human vision and optical effects may learn much just by reading. Topics include:

visual memory

the relativity of color

light intensity, darkness

gradation studies

subtraction of color

color deception, after-image

transparence and space-illusion

the Bezold effect

color juxtaposition

film color and volume colorthe Weber-Fechner Law

tenerature and humidity in color

vibrating and vanishing boundaries, etc.

Explanation of color terms

Josef Albers was the Johannes Kepler of color. Kepler spent his life observing planetary motion, and distilling his observations down to simple laws of gravity. Change planets to color, and gravity to human vision, and you have Josef Albers. This book describes the gravitational laws of color. It has the whiff of simple perfection: you can't change one word without diminishing it. It is the bible of color interaction, and will remain so until an Isaac Newton comes along and explains these laws further.

In the rare book collection, I had a look at the first edition, from 1963. It's this enormous book with lots of colored paper and plates for you to experiment with. I really wish it were still in print... I'd buy it at once.

As I began to read, I got excited. All other reviews here are *correct* in their subjective observations of why they did and didn't like it; however, the reasons why they liked and/or disliked it is why *I liked it* too.

For example, the prose reads very poetically and therefore the text flows like a river. The text isn't clumped into large paragraphs but rather usually in stanzas of 2 to five lines each; this helps digest the information.

Albers speaks of: philosophy, music, psychology, and everyday living and at times seems a bit of a philosopher himself. This book helps you see that what is today, was of tomorrow and that a lot of concepts and visual tricks originate from his experiments. In my mind, he is one of the Master teachers.

Also, I felt there were *just* enough examples in color at the back - keep in mind this book was written in the 60's/70's and "plates" were very expensive to produce - to gain and understanding of what Albers is getting at. This book is *not* updated or revised (other than the second plates that Albers choose) and yet is still VERY relevant to today and the understanding of color. Even without all the fancy coloring and graphical treatments, the black text and diagrams are easy and pleasant to the eye.

I also thought I would be reading *something else* about color, such as the psychology of color and what color means and I got a bit of that but also so much more. In addition, I learned the ability to *think for myself* in regards to the color I see around me and I understand the *logic* of color now.

Well, I won't spoil the book for you and it's certainly a treat to read for those of us who are bored with mediocre writing and thinking.

This is a highly praised book in my library collection.

excellent revised/expanded edition of the classic albers theory/anti-theory of color. the classic that most art schools continue to base their color courses on, this edition has more reproductions from the original collectors hand silkscreened edition and is nearly twice the number of pages.