In response to the palettes of green which Raewyn created, Louise Crouch, commercial perfumer, offered a selection of associated green fragrances which synesthetically matched the collection of colours.
What is the colour green? Can we hear the colour green? Can we smell the colour green? Could we consider the landscape as a map of smell and sound? Our dialogue was initiated by our meeting and spending a short time together in New Plymouth, New Zealand, and by the discovery of our common interest in integrating cross-sensory experience into artwork. We began with Raewyn’s research into the colour green. Green is a project about the feelings contained under our skins, analogous to the subterranean layers of the earth’s green cloak. While walking the streets and forests of New Plymouth, Raewyn photographed numerous greens- plants, ground and objects. This digital photo collection was used to create a computerized colour palette, which was then made into a quick time video. Diana utilized a sensor that is sensitive to variations in the tone and intensity within the colour palette to create a responsive frequency generator. She attached her circuit sensor to the computer screen while it displayed the quick time video thereby creating sounds corresponding to the differing greens. The result is an audio/visual sketch of the colour green. We then walked the streets of Vancouver and areas of Banff photographing the colour green. Raewyn made a second quick time video of Canadian greens with the idea of projecting both videos on opposite walls, each with its own sensor and audio frequency generator. We then added smell to the installation as a cross-sensory indicator of information about physical states and environment.
