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256
The works that constitute the 256 series give us an insight into the ‘colour appreciation’ of computers. The colour values
of the original pictures were first of all translated or scanned by measuring systems into digital and letter codes (see
Digital Album). Then they were screened by means of an analysis system (= graphics program) into 256 colours, the so-called
indexed colour scale. The individual areas of colour were arranged so that their position approximately corresponds to the
distribution in the original picture. Digital technology has thus for the first time put us in a position to contemplate the
colour values and the effect of a picture in a completely abstract way, i.e. detached from the object, colour substances,
image carrier, etc.
Andrej Barov consciously selected six works of world-famous artists as examples. In art lovers the mere mention of these
paintings will evoke, among other things, the recollection of a specific colour mood: the earthy red atmosphere of Rembrandt
paintings, the bright colours of van Gogh or the IKB (International Klein Blue) by Yves Klein are stored in our minds as a
colour impression, even if we cannot remember the works in detail. Often it is the emotional content of a picture that
commits it to memory and this is what is extended through the colour atmosphere and interpreted in a concrete form. It
almost always enables us to link the colour palette to the original picture. But do we also feel the same emotions? What
effect does the colour atmosphere have on us when the representational basis is missing?
In the Colours of Fragrance series Barov reduced fragrances, or better said, the advertising and image concepts concealed
behind them, to their colour impressions. Not only the fragrance, but also its colour and image determine whether we find
the perfume appealing and buy it, or whether we hold back. Colours as the carriers of emotions shrewd sales strategists
have long since learned to manipulate our ability to make a rational buying decision. And whether we like it or not: the
modern neurosciences continue to hone their tools to find the shortest and most vulnerable way into our consciousness.
Andrej Barov also tries to take this path, among other things, with the works of the 256 series. But his objective, in
contrast, is to find new forms of expression that are at the pinnacle of the times, judged by both technical and scientific
standards. Expressed another way, he uses a refined tool to address other regions of the brain and levels of consciousness
than the conventional visual experience. Here we are entering unknown territory, and there is much to learn and discover.
Without a fear of mercantile ulterior motives, we can allow ourselves to be stimulated by Barov’s images, created in the
protected realm of art and based on aesthetics and poetry, and to experience new sensations of aesthetics and poetry.
Dr Ingeborg Kader
Director of the Museum for Casts of Classical Works of Art
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