This relief gives an empirical demonstration of the visual phenomenon when colours of light and shadow are freeed from their shape-defining function, and therefore gain in saturation, when vision is manipulated so that they appear as surface colours.

The relief was presented at AIC colour rseearch conference, and the phenomenon is accounted for in: "The Shaping Properties of Colour" in Colour and Psychology. Proceedings from AIC Interim Meeting in Gothenburgh 1996. (1997) ed. Lars Sivik.

 Print-cut-and-fold-relief

Click on the image to get the A#-size image for printing.

Print in black and white, cut and fold according to arrows: glue the light blue parts.

Place the relief so that daylight lits it from one side and incandescent from the other. Place and turn it so that the darkest cube-side is turned towards the strongest light and that the lightest cube-side is the shadowed one.

View the relief from 5-7 meters distance or keep one eye closed, and the colours of light and shadow will gain in saturation and appear as surface colours. Approach it or view it with both eyes and it will appear neutrally grey again.