Friday, November 4, 2011

A modern version of HG Wells' "Green Wall"

Somewhere in my past, this color exists. I'm pretty sure it was on a guitar or car or otherwise very glossy surface. I had to recreate it because I can't find it anywhere. There also exists the same color, I know on cars, in a blue and also a gold. It is an unspeakable transparent glitter color that you would really have to see in 3D.

My point in bringing it up is that sometimes we see things that hit a part of our brains and make a mark. We carry that memory around. If it's a quote, ok, we can bring it back maybe by reading it. A color or a smell is much more difficult and subtle, because it is usually nameless. Sometimes we get hold of it and name it, like Parrish Blue, after the artist Maxfield Parrish. That helps, but you have to see it in person to really get it. Another example are the colors Vermeer used, which you have to see to understand. I think some of the colors in the movie Avatar are that way too.

When the memory of this red first came back, it startled me, because I could remember clearly my pleasure at seeing it but couldn't recall, (and still can't recall) the actual object that it was on. It was most likely a car or a guitar, but I really don't remember the object or where or when, just the color/texture.

You probably have similar memories in your head, maybe some you didn't even know were there. The reason I'm fascinated by this is because up until recently, I thought memory was linear and cohesive. It's not, at least once you hit 45 or so. Carlos Castaneda wrote about this, but I never really believed any of it. Now I do, having re-experienced the memory of the color above.

What does this have to do with the H.G. Wells story The Green Wall?

The story is about memories lost like this red texture/color. 

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