Color Walking
In the article, “Color Walking”, by Phia Bennin and Brendan McMullan, both writers did an experiment that would allow them to appreciate colors more. They explain that this experiment was thought of by a man named William Burroughs. The writers claimed that the experiment was, “…a pretty simple idea. Just walk out your door, pick a color that catches your eye, and watch your surroundings pop as you follow the color from object to object” (Bennin and McMullan). They then explained a visual of the experiment by saying, “…allow ourselves the flexibility to switch from color to color: a woman’s lavender handbag might draw us to the right, a yellow cab could pull us down a side street; a green pistachio ice cream cone could shove us into the park”( Bennin and McMullan). Both Bennin and McMullan would participate in this on a random day in New York City as they would start with the color blue to see where it would lead them.
As they began their journey down the street, the first blue thing that caught their eyes was a woman in a blue scarf. Of course they talked to the woman about the beautiful scarf, but she claimed that it would look better on someone else. They continued on their journey and saw a girl who had blue chipping nails. If they were not really looking for a specific color, they probably would not have noticed the girl with chipping nails. That is not really something that you notice while people are quickly walking down a street. The final thing that was blue that they noticed were objects on a basketball court. When they noticed the courts, they decided that they should stop and enjoy the games. This is another example of them noticing something and then actually taking the time to look and enjoy the activity.
After they had their fun with blue, Bennin and McMullan decided to look out for two new colors: purple and pink. They first spot someone in a purple shirt. Once they did see that person they looked at their eyes. The two adventures claimed that the person’s eyes were sparkly and stood out. They then saw someone in a purple leopard. This person happened to be with another person who had on a pink shirt that said “Legalize Gay”. The purple leopard and pink shirt people were enjoying their food at an outdoor café. The final person that they saw was a man that had a pink object yet the two adventurers did not know what it was.
After they finished their walk, the two adventures started to noticed more colors on their way back home as they said, “We walked away seeing a would brimming over with colors: the rusty orange rooftop water tower in the sun, a bright blue Mohawk, and the humble yellowy greens of a new lead all jumped into our eyes” (Bennin and Mcullan). Because of this color walk, they were able to notice objects, people, and events that they would have never given a second glance on a regular day.
Work Cited
“Color Walking” by Radiolab: http://www.radiolab.org/story/214709-color-walk/
Picture: http://trafana.com/2012/08/25/valparaiso-chile-color-by-the-bay/