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.
Planes ordered along the spectrum / A composition that turns in a vortex / Depth generated by colour alone / Titles borrowed from music
Dictionary entry
- 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
- 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
- Adding a keyline to hold the shapes together: as soon as an outline carries the structure, colour stops doing the work and the whole premise is void.
- Further study
- The theory of Macdonald-Wright and Russell / The dispute with Orphism over simultaneity / Tables of correspondence between colour and music