A Spectrum of Lost and Unnamed Colours
In a not-too-distant future, a media archaeologist has tasked herself with compiling an atlas dedicated to lost or unknown ways of seeing.
During this mission she finds herself captivated by a NEON Rainbow Fairy Light, an object seemingly plucked from a child's bedroom. The archeologist proclaims the fairy light to be a quintessential artifact that encapsulates the entire history of the decline of nature's original "glitch"—the atmospheric rainbow.
Proper observation of rainbows has become rare due to a double process of pollution. On the one hand, climate change, environmental degradation, and light pollution have dulled atmospheric rainbows’ brilliance, making their occurrence increasingly unusual and their sightings more precious. On the other hand, within the realms of image processing, digital pollution has corrupted and distorted the representation of rainbows even more: as generative artificial intelligence struggles to differentiate between symbolic representations—the rainbow-alike—and actual depictions of natural phenomena, images of authentic rainbows have become anomalous.
Punctuated by crafted translucent sigils and informed by practical and speculative dialogues with computer and environmental scientists at EPFL, A Spectrum of Lost and Unnamed Colours is a mesmerizing mixed-media installation that takes us on a journey while calling for a holistic categorization of various types of colour loss.
A Spectrum of Lost and Unnamed Colours, Rosa Menkman, 2024
Mixed-media installation: sigils, rainbow generator, and video Commissioned and produced in the framework of EPFL - CDH Artist in Residence Program 2023,
Enter the Hyper-Scientific Partners: EPFL Center for Imaging, Edward Andò, CLIMACT Center for Climate Impact and Action UNIL & EPFL
Credits: Rosa Menkman
Sound: Debit
With support from: Lotte Menkman, Herman Hermsen, and So Kanno
Curator & head of program: Giulia Bini
Photo: Remy Ugarte Vallejos