Machine Dreams #017

Machine Dreams is an exploration of how colors impact us, expressed with a diffused effect that displays Dean Blacc’s technical mastery of generative watercolor.

Within color theory, certain colors are believed to generally evoke similar emotional responses. German poet Wolfgang Johann von Goethe inscribed human-understandable descriptions into the color wheel, connecting psychology and color in a framework that continues to resonate today in art, philosophy, media, and design.

Dean Blacc rebuilds colors from the wheel as abstract watercolor fields, and overlays them with an almost runic script, quick scribbles or annotations, similar to an artist’s private notes. Machine Dreams is an elegant, minimalist work that speaks to the colors’ intended reaction through gentle and ephemeral forms, keeping our conscious grasp of the explanation just barely out of our reach.

Watercolor through computer code is a challenging endeavor, modeling how water spreads over paper, gravity and the angle of the easel, the water content of the brush, and the viscosity of the paper itself. Inspired by the color tests of 19th century painter Joseph William Turner, Dean Blacc explores modernist abstract color explorations and showcases technical mastery through understated simplicity.

Machine Dreams blends the purity of color exploration with the ephemeral nature of watercolor, calling our attention to the meaning behind an artist’s choice of color and the impact of the medium on which they choose to present their work.