# Synchromism (シンクロミズム)

> 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.

- IndexStyle No.485 — https://indexstyle.org/styles/synchromism
- Kind: Style · Family: Geometric Abstraction · Era: 1912–1918
- Mood: Exhilaration, Technology, Futurism
- Color cues: #e9e6dd / #67635d / #171615 (cues taken from reference works, not a fixed palette)

## Defining characteristics

- 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

## Research method

This entry records a historical style; derive the treatment from its sources rather than a fixed recipe:

- A geometric sans in one weight, set small; the title names the piece and the colour does the speaking.
- A spiral of overlapping planes around a slightly displaced centre, warm hues advancing and cool receding, with no drawn outline anywhere.
- Saturated unmixed pigment at even opacity, so no plane comes forward merely because it is denser than its neighbour.

## What to avoid

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.

## Application checklist

Before calling a piece an application of this style, check it against the defining characteristics:

- [ ] Planes ordered along the spectrum
- [ ] A composition that turns in a vortex
- [ ] Depth generated by colour alone
- [ ] Titles borrowed from music
- [ ] At least one reference work below has been studied directly
- [ ] The caution above ("What to avoid") has been addressed

## Related styles

- **Orphism (オルフィスム)** — An abstraction that returned colour and movement to Cubist fragmentation, painting light itself through rings of simultaneous contrast. Rotating discs and a refracted spectrum generate time and vibration within a static surface. One of the first practices to translate the theory of simultaneous colour contrast into form. → https://indexstyle.org/styles/orphism
- **Color Field Painting (カラーフィールド・ペインティング)** — Builds spaces of color that envelop the viewer — large continuous fields, soaked edges, few forms, long perceptual time. → https://indexstyle.org/styles/color-field-painting

## Further study

- The theory of Macdonald-Wright and Russell
- The dispute with Orphism over simultaneity
- Tables of correspondence between colour and music

## Reference works

- Stanton Macdonald-Wright《シンクロミー第3番》— Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stanton%20Macdonald-Wright%20-%20Synchromy%20No.%203%20-%20Google%20Art%20Project.jpg
- Stanton Macdonald-Wright《Conception, Synchromy》— Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Conception.%22%20Synchromy%2C%20by%20Stanton%20Macdonald-Wright.jpg
- Stanton Macdonald-Wright《日の出のシンクロミー（紫）》1918 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stanton%20Macdonald-Wright%E2%80%94Sunrise%20Synchromy%20in%20Violet%E2%80%941918.jpg

## Source of record

- Wikipedia — Synchromism — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchromism

## Machine surfaces

- JSON: https://indexstyle.org/api/styles/synchromism
- Image-generation prompt (legally clean): https://indexstyle.org/styles/synchromism/prompt.txt
- MCP: https://indexstyle.org/mcp (tools: search_styles, get_style, compose_styles; prompts: image-prompt, apply-style)

## 日本語

音楽の和声に倣って色そのものを構造にするとした、アメリカ発の最初の抽象運動。スペクトル順に配置した色面が回転しながら奥行きを生み、形は色のあとに従う。「シンクロミー（色の交響）」という作品名がそのまま綱領だった。

特徴: スペクトル順に並ぶ色面／渦を巻く構成／色による奥行きの生成／音楽になぞらえた題名
注意: 表面的な記号へ還元せず、時代・地域・技術・制作主体の文脈を確認する。