We’ve all experienced the effects of "good color" -- walking into a room and feeling peaceful, calm and relaxed. Sadly, every day, all over the world, "bad color" causes injury, disfigurement and death. Although it sounds strange to say, bad color kills.

Sometimes we are confronted with patterns of color we don't recognize. Our brain cannot fit the energy pattern into any pre-existing system, and while the energy bounces around, looking for an appropriate "lock", our entire being is thrown into confusion. We freeze, time stops and "shit happens" -- "accidents" and death. A practical demonstration of this effect is hostage rescue techniques.

COLOR AND PATTERN

"Beaches", Laura Mercurio [2002]

It is thought that the human mind is highly "biophiliac", meaning that it has an innate affinity for natural landscapes Most of the energy patterns (colors, scents, textures and shapes) we recognize as "harmonious" are "living" things, such as plants, animals, earth and sky.

We are comforted because on every level, from the sub-atomic to a picture from outer space, the energy pattern is a repetition of a simple, familiar pattern of colors and shapes, called "fractals".

These patterns can be produced in different ways, but still evoke the same familiar thoughts and feelings. It seems that the repetition of fractal forms is the kind of environment we are biologically attuned to, and that the message it is delivering to our perceptual systems is that what we experience, is 'real'.

Consider the illustration (right), "Beaches", by Laura Mercurio [2002, distributed by Contract Cube NY , NY], which shows a fabric design 'inspired by nature', yet not duplicative of it, next to a photograph of a familiar scene.