Proceedings of 2nd International Symposium for Color Science and Art 2020-2021

Introduction of the 6th Exhibitionat the col.lab Gallery
Yasushi Noguchi, Ryuichiro Yoshie *Tokyo Polytechnic Univ., 2-9-5 Honcho, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8678, Japan* Tokyo Polytechnic Univ., 1583 Iiyama, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0297, JapanABSTRACTTokyo Polytechnic University established theInternational Research Center for Color Science and Art in2016. The first exhibition at the col.lab Gallery was held in
2017, and six special exhibitions have been held sincethen.
This paper describes the philosophy of the gallery, theoutline and significance of the 6th special exhibition, andthe future outlook of the gallery.
1. INTRODUCTION
The research and branding project titled “CreateTomorrow, Learn Future, and Connect the World by Color,
KOUGEI Color Science and Art” proposed by Tokyo
Polytechnic University (TPU) was selected as a Private
University Research Branding Project sponsored by theMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT) in 2016.
TPU selected color as the research theme and built theInternational Research Center for Color Science and Art.
Color is closely tied to photography, printing, and optics,
which have been TPU’s focal research fields since its
establishment. Research on color conducted by theengineering and arts departments has been paving theway for further integration of technology and art.
At the center, we launched the col.lab Gallery, whichfeatures innovative, experience-based learning and uses
media arts to introduce the fundamentals of the science ofcolor and the latest research.

It is essentially impossible to evenly split the scienceand art elements, so one element may be more prominent
depending on the director, but the uniqueness of thegallery is that the two always coexist.
2.3 Col.lab Gallery after the Private University
Research Branding Project
Since the Private University Research Branding Project
ended in 2019, the International Research Center for Color
Science and Art reaffirmed its role as a research institution
with the objectives of integrating science and art andpromoting color research.
While branding-related activities have relativelydecreased, the role of the gallery has expanded to present
research findings in accordance with the purpose of thiscenter. A research presentation space, the Color
Research Lab (CRL), opened along with the 6th special
exhibition. The CRL space is planned to be open once ayear, while the special exhibition is held twice a year.
3. 6TH SPECIAL EXHIBITION
This chapter describes the purpose and details of the
6th exhibition planned by the authors.
3.1 Exhibition ThemeThe exhibition, entitled "When light overlaps, new colors
are created," centers around the theme of lightinterference.
Light is an electromagnetic wave (or particle). When thecrests of light waves overlap, they strengthen each otherand brightness increases. On the contrary, when thecrests and troughs overlap, they weaken each other andbrightness decreases (Fig.1). This phenomenon is calledinterference [3].

2. COL.LAB GALLERY AND SPECIAL EXHIBITION
2.1 Prior to the Exhibition
When the center was established, we initially planned
to hold a permanent exhibition. However, since the project
was for TPU’s branding, it was important to externallypromote the university’s activities. There were concernsthat the promotional opportunities would be limited if weonly ran a permanent exhibition. On the other hand,
special exhibitions are periodically promoted before andduring the exhibitions. Additional details can be provided
by printing flyers, booklets, updating the website, etc.
2.2 Color Science and Art Exhibition
The main theme of the exhibition is Color Science & Art.
The management committee requested that a faculty
member be the director for each exhibition. When
proposing a plan, the faculty member has relative freedom
as long as it is relevant to his/her background or interests.
As a result, the balance between science and art varies
depending on the director. For example, the engineering
faculty generally tend to plan a more science-basedexhibition.
Because of the variation in the exhibitions, visitors wereable to consider the concept of color from variousperspectives.

Fig.1 Mechanism of light interference
The special exhibition features the works of four artists
who utilize and portray light interference from various
perspectives. The mechanisms are explained in written
explanations accompanying the works.
3.2 Christopher Marley
The work shown in Fig. 2 uses morpho butterflies todemonstrate how structural color causes the appearancechanges depending on the viewing angle.

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Proceedings of 2nd International Symposium for Color Science and Art 2020-2021
work as an art piece; thus, it can be said that this work has
a great significance as a result of the fusion of science andart.
3.6 Color Research Lab
The CRL was established in 2020 to display
presentations on color research (Fig.6). Since the conceptof the CRL differs from the special exhibition, the exhibition
space was sectioned off. The CRL is essentially a poster
exhibition displaying research alongside exhibited works
to introduce color research in a visually appealing way.

Fig.2 “LIMITED CERULEAN GENESIS”
by Christopher Marley
3.3 Chris Wood
The medium that Chris Wood explores is light. She uses
a variety of high- and low-tech optical materials to create
light patterns.
Her work uses dichroic film, which transmits light in aspecific wavelength region and reflects the remaining
region by using the principle of light interference (Fig.3).

Fig.6 Color Research Lab.
3.7 Exhibition Space Plan
To maximize space, rather than dividing the special
exhibition into small sections with walls, the works weredisplayed in one cohesive space, making it possible to see
the works of different artists at the same time. Although theworks all center around the principle of light interference,each work contains a different perspective and amplifies
the phenomenon in different ways. This enables visitors
to compare the differences in how artists portray light.
The CRL typically displays research presentations, we
designed the space to resemble a passage so that visitors
can view the panels thoroughly.
As a countermeasure against COVID-19, we reduced
the number of hands-on displays as much as possible andselected works that do not require touching.

Fig.3 “Interference” by Chris Wood
3.4 Mafumi Hishida
The video work entitled "Flux" uses the interferencecolors in the polarization of liquid crystals, which is anintermediate state between liquid and crystal. When theliquid crystal with a special microscope, a bright color canbe seen due to the polarization of light (Fig.4).

4. CONCLUSION
The exhibition focused on the natural phenomenon oflight interference and featured the works of artists that
expanded the aesthetic properties of light interference.
Theexhibition
successfullylaunched
after
postponement due to COVID-19. On the other hand, toprevent spreading, drawing in visitors has not beenprioritized, so the number of visitors remains low.
However, we hope that the content of the exhibition will
be archived as booklets and on the website after theexhibition for future reference, so that the philosophy ofthis gallery can be clearly communicated to others. We
believe that it is the social role of this center as a research
institution to further the gallery from a medium- to longterm perspective, regardless of the number of visitors.

Fig.4 “Flux” by Mafumi Hishida“At the Moment” demonstrates structural color throughthe formation of a soft structure in water using the liquid
crystal
3.5 Toshihiro Hiejima
Structural color is the reflection of a specific wavelength
due to light interference, diffraction, refraction, etc. A
Chladni figure is a geometric pattern generated by soundinterference. In Hiejima’s featured work, he created asound image of Chladni figures using structural color
pigments (Fig.5).

5. REFERENCES[1] K. Jo, The Mechanism of Color, SHINSEI Publishing,2009.
[2] Newton Press, The Science of Light and Color, Newton
Press, 2015.
[3] https://www.japansensor.co.jp/faq/969/index.html（2020）

Fig.5 “The Sound Image by Interference”
by Toshihiro Hiejima
The authors provided suggestions on how to exhibit the2