Colour Space by John Short and Praline

• Beijing Design Week 2012

Above: Burnt Sienna - sound frequency 440Hz

Each set of pigments was laid on a white surface above a speaker, through which different sounds were emitted to disperse the colours.

Above: Cobalt Yellow Lake – sound frequency 493.88Hz 

“We were exploring the relationship between colour and sound,” David Tanguy from Praline told Dezeen at the exhibition.

Above: Old Holland Golden Green – sound frequency 523.25Hz

Seven colour hues were used for the seven musical notes, and each sound moved the particles into different patterns.

Above: Cobalt Green – sound frequency 587.33Hz

Short photographed the patterns in motion, which were then blown up and printed onto 14 floor-to-ceiling fabric banners that were conceived as “an homage to traditional Chinese hangings”.

Above: Old Delft Blue – sound frequency 659.26Hz

They were exhibited during Beijing Design Week at The Factory, an old bicycle factory in the Dashilar neighbourhood of the city that also hosted an installation of illuminated ceramic yoghurt pots.

Above: Ultramarine Red-Pink – sound frequency 698.46Hz

We’ve featured a couple of other stories from Beijing Design Week, including anexhibition about the problems faced by international architects working in China and maps that chart the disappearance of Beijing’s ancient hutongs.

Above: Alizarin Crimson Lake Extra - 783.99Hz

See all our stories about photography

The text below is from John Short and Praline:

Colour Space, an installation by design studio Praline and photographer John Short explores the relationship between sound, colour and form.

The exhibition takes an existing idea, of sound being represented by colour, one step further and shows how various sound frequencies create their own individual patterns.

Passing seven frequencies that correspond to the seven musical notes through coloured pigment created unique ‘audio explosions’.