From chemists’ plant-derived dyes to consumer paint swatches displayed at the hardware store, the history of color charts reflects a varied relationship between pigments, science, culture, and commerce. Anne Varichon in her forthcoming book explores the entwined evolution of this categorization through nearly 200 vibrant samples from the 15th century to modern day.

Translated by Kate Demling, Color Charts: A History is a hefty survey of hundreds of grids and illustrations cataloging a remarkable spectrum of hues, materials, and uses. Inside its pages are swatches of 19th-century silk ribbons, thin fragments of wool roving, and a 1960s diagram featuring a linoleum collection that appears like a celestial map. While many of the charts included haven’t been published previously, the book also references classics like Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, a wildly popular guide of hues for naturalists and artists.

Published by Princeton University Press, Color Charts outlines the way color has always informed consumer choice, from hand-dyed fabrics to the vast options of mass-produced goods we know today. Dive further into the history by pre-ordering your copy from Bookshop.

Detail of Sarlino Reims’ ‘Linoleum Collection’ (1966-1967). Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Forney, Paris

Detail of color chart of silk velvet ribbons, G.G. & Cie, France, Leporello, late nineteenth century. Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Forney, Paris

M. D. Gonfreville’s ‘Art of Dyeing Wools in Fleece, Yarn, and Fabrics,’ Librairie Scientifique, Industrielle et Agricole Lacroix et Baudry, Paris (1848). Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris

Acid Dyes for Felt Pile, Base Colors, Société Anonyme des Matières Colorantes et Produits Chimiques de Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, November 1930, leporella. Image courtesy of Anne Varichon

Detail of color chart of silk velvet ribbons, G.G. & Cie, France, Leporello, late nineteenth century. Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Forney, Paris

Detail of Astrolin Color Card, Établissement Georget Fils Peintures Laquées et Vernis, Chantenay-Lès-Nantes (c. 1906). Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Forney, Paris

Detail of Oscar Piéquet’s ‘The Chemistry of Dyers, New Theoretical and Practical Treatise on the Art of Dyeing and Printing Fabrics’ (1892), Paris. Image courtesy of Ôkhra-Ecomuseum of Ocher, Roussillon

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If someone were to ask you what you know about the history of the Amazon, what would you say? Archaeologist Stéphen Rostain, who knows a thing or two about the region, insists in a recent profile that the answer is “nothing, because the history that we think we know is wrong.” In a study recently published in Science, Rostain chronicles a 30-year research project and the astonishing discovery of a 2,500-year-old metropolis in the Ecuadorian rainforest, a “lost valley of cities.”

While previous expeditions to the area have documented large mounds and monuments throughout the area, the enormity and complexity of this find exceeded expectations with the discovery of thousands of houses, complex roads, plazas, ceremonial sites, and drainage canals. More than 6,000 rectangular earthen platforms, which were likely homes and communal buildings, are connected by a vast and sophisticated road network connecting 15 urban centers, surrounded by terraced agricultural fields.

Rostain and his colleagues used aerial Lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging, to scan an ancient network of cities extending across 115 square miles in the Amazon. Built around 500 B.C.E. and occupied for hundreds of years until the population began to migrate away between 300 and 600 C.E., the the Upper Amazon site’s immense scale places it in league with comparable Maya urban systems recently found in Mexico and Guatemala.

You may also enjoy exploring Vinicius Peripato and Luiz Aragão’s recent survey of earthworks in Brazil that suggest thousands still hidden in the forest. (via Kottke)

Copueno site, Upano Valley, Ecuador. A dug main street crosses the urban area, creating an axis along which complexes of rectangular platforms are arranged around low squares

Complex of rectangular earth platforms of the Nijiamanch site along the cliff edge of the Upano riverbed, Ecuador. Image by S. Rostain

Kunguints site, Upano Valley, Ecuador. Dug streets cross the urban area where they are bordered by complexes of rectangular platforms arranged around low squares. The site is framed by two rivers

Earth platform of the Sangay site core, Upano Valley, Ecuador

Large-scale archaeological excavation on one earth platform of the Kilamope site, Upano Valley, Ecuador

Stéphen Rostain behind a pottery jar for sweet maize beer, known as a chicha, during an excavation on an earth platform of the Sangay site, Upano Valley, Ecuador

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The art of storytelling in small business marketing – AZ Big Media

Before going extinct more than 65 million years ago, ammonites were cephalopods that roamed marine landscapes donning coiled shell exteriors. Now, they serve as index fossils that provide a valuable look into a geologic period far before our existence. Captivated by themes of origin, extinction, preservation, and conservation, Lopez Island-based artist Kelly O’Dell explores the ammonite’s elegant form through hot glass sculpture.

O’Dell spent her first 25 years in Hawai’i, an island formed over a geological hotspot. “I grew up obsessed with my own mortality, right alongside rumbling earthquakes and gurgling volcanoes,” she says. “It is fascinating and devastating that our existence has so much impact on the delicate balance of life. I hope my artwork could serve as a reminder, or ‘memento’ of our borrowed time.”

Her blown and sculpted ammonites curve and spiral gracefully, emphasizing the extinct creatures’ unique contours. Vibrant colors and intricate textures embed each piece, almost as if they were brought back to life. The fragility of glass mimics the fragility of existence, as she ponders what humans might leave behind when we are gone.

O’Dell has a busy year coming up with her first exhibition of 2024 opening in March at Duncan McClellan Gallery. Find more on the artist’s website, and follow her Instagram for a look into her process.

“Convex”

Left: “Ruby.” Right: detail of “Ruby”

“Sunset Seas”

Detail of “Scarlet”

Left: detail from “Of Ancient Seas.” Right: “Of Ancient Seasons”

“Tidepool”

Detail of “Dwelling”

“Roseglow”

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“My intention is to invite the viewers to feel like they’re in a little story theater when they look at my art,” says Kanako Abe about her latest series. The Seattle-based artist is known for her elegant Kirie works, which feature intricate compositions of flora and fauna carved from single sheets of paper. Employing the same precision and whimsical aesthetic, Abe’s most recent collection shifts from two dimensions to three to embrace the immersive nature of storytelling.

On view through January 30 at Giant Robot in Los Angeles, the new body of work layers green sprigs into dense thickets of foliage. Dreamlike scenes nest inside the soft copse frames and evoke the Japanese folklore of Nushi. Translating to guardian or spirit, the myth refers to divine wild animals inhabiting mountains and forests that, over centuries, have grown to gigantic proportions. Because of their immense powers, the creatures are often respected and feared.

In Abe’s nighttime scenes, enormous wolves and deer greet a young girl donning a red cape. “To me, Nushi symbolizes timeless wisdom that remains constant regardless of the changing world around us,” she says. “I think we can all relate to this sentiment—that, sometimes, we need to step back from the world, embracing moments of isolation to rediscover ourselves.”

For more of Abe’s works and glimpses into her practice, including her dyeing process, check out her Instagram.

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Roosted in the lush tropics of North Goa, India, a new restaurant offers patrons a view across the Vagator cliffs and into the sea from an elevated perch. Titled “Como Agua,” the open-air design is from the architects of Otherworlds, who built two large nests atop the bar that offer a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding landscape.

The 3,750-square-foot space is made primarily with bamboo and Lantana camera, an invasive flowering shrub that has wreaked havoc on local flora and fauna. Arko Saha, founder of Otherworlds, shares that the plant “has invaded over 40 percent of the Western Ghats, a total of 13 million hectares of Indian landscape. Arriving in India as an ornamental plant in the early 1800s, lantana has escaped from gardens and taken over entire ecosystems.”

For “Como Agua,” the team wrapped the woody Lantana camera around the bar, metal railings, partitions, and canopies to evoke the interlaced structures created by weaverbirds. The team adds:

The weavers are social birds, usually nesting and feeding in colonies. They collect all sorts of natural materials like twigs, fibres and leaves to weave a membrane that acts as their nest, usually hanging from the branch of a tree. Materials used for building nests include fine leaf fibers, grass, and twigs. Many species weave very fine nests using thin strands of leaf fiber, though some, like the buffalo-weavers, form massive untidy stick nests in their colonies, which may have spherical woven nests within.

Explore more of Otherworlds’ designs on Instagram. (via designboom)

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Semarang, Indonesia-based artist Muhammad Fatchurofi translates the dappled, grainy textures of the printing press into his vivid illustrations. Whether sketching on paper or digitally, Fatchurofi gravitates toward surreal, mind-bending scenes tinged with nostalgia that he renders in bright, bold shades of primary colors. In one work, a cairn sandwiches a seated green figure between the stones, while another features a red koi fish leaping from a rippling blue page. “For me, these basic colors give a sense of boldness, vibrant, full of energy,” he says.

Fatchurofi works with a long list of editorial and commercial clients, including The New York Times, Google, and Bandcamp, which he balances with personal projects. He likens his practice to journaling, explaining:

I’m interested in using illustration as a mindful way of documenting thoughts, interests, and experiences in my daily life. Within this practice, I try to reflect on my thoughts and experiences in a more positive outlook and to learn something from it. The result is often described by my audience as peaceful and calming.

Fatchurofi is currently working on a series of acrylic paintings he plans to exhibit later this year and adding more limited-edition prints to his shop. Follow his work on Instagram.

“Life is Hard”

“Tutur”

“Seed”

“Daya”

“Archive”

“Considerations”

“Dandhanggula”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Primary Colors and Dappled Textures Give Muhammad Fatchurofi’s Illustrations a Trippy, Nostalgic Feel appeared first on Colossal.