Synchromism

シンクロミズム / 1912–1918 / Style / Geometric Abstraction

The first abstract movement to originate in America, holding that colour itself could be structure on the analogy of musical harmony. Planes laid out in spectral order rotate and generate depth, and form follows colour rather than preceding it. The work titles, Synchromies or chords of colour, were the programme itself.

Synchromism — Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Synchromy No. 3 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Synchromy No. 3 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Synchromism — Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Conception, Synchromy — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Conception, Synchromy — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Synchromism — Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Sunrise Synchromy in Violet, 1918 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Sunrise Synchromy in Violet, 1918 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

Planes ordered along the spectrum
A composition that turns in a vortex
Depth generated by colour alone
Titles borrowed from music

Best used for

Colour systems for music platforms, festivals and audio hardware, which need chromatic energy and have no imagery to lean on
Motion graphics in which hue rotation rather than the movement of objects carries depth and rhythm

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Dictionary entry

Type: A geometric sans in one weight, set small; the title names the piece and the colour does the speaking.
Composition: A spiral of overlapping planes around a slightly displaced centre, warm hues advancing and cool receding, with no drawn outline anywhere.
Material: Saturated unmixed pigment at even opacity, so no plane comes forward merely because it is denser than its neighbour.
Caution: Borrowing only the musical metaphor for the palette produces no depth, and once a keyline holds the shapes together the colour stops doing the structural work.
Further study: The theory of Macdonald-Wright and Russell / The dispute with Orphism over simultaneity / Tables of correspondence between colour and music

Related entries

Orphism (オルフィスム)Same Geometric Abstraction lineage.Compare Synchromism and Orphism
Color Field Painting (カラーフィールド・ペインティング)Shared effects: Exhilaration.Compare Synchromism and Color Field Painting

Often confused with

Orphism (オルフィスム)compare

Cite this entry

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