Out of the Blue
Background
What is Blue?
When you think of the word blue, the first thing you are likely to think of is the colour. But blue can be used to describe many other things. Here's a definition of the word blue:
- Colour (adj.)
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- Having a colour like that of a clear sky or that of a portion of the colour spectrum between green and violet:
e.g. Azure, cobalt, ultramarine, duck-egg blue, lapis lazuli, sapphire, turquoise.. - As a distinguishing colour:
e.g. Sea, sky, a 'blue collar worker', blueprint, blue blooded, Blue Peter, Tory...
- Having a colour like that of a clear sky or that of a portion of the colour spectrum between green and violet:
- Despondent (adj.)
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- Sad (state of affairs), depressed, gloomy, dismal:
e.g. Feeling blue, blue times, The Blues...
- Sad (state of affairs), depressed, gloomy, dismal:
- Indecent (adj.)
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- Pornographic, immoral, obscene:
e.g. A blue film, blue humour...
- Pornographic, immoral, obscene:
- Puritanical (adj.)
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- Moral, self-righteous
- Truth, knowledge, good (blue-eyed boy)...
Blue can also be used to suggest/signify much more, such as: Coolness, infinity, peacefulness, 'out of the blue', (once in a) blue moon...
Blue - a colour full of contradiction
When you look closely at a definition of blue you will notice its various meanings can be quite contradictory to each other. Here are a couple of examples.
- Commonly thought of as a colour to represent coolness, it can also be the colour of something quite hot - a gas flame or the appearance of a star for example.
- It can be used to describe anger - in Australia blue is used for somebody who is having an argument, or as a nickname for a red-headed person (a contradiction in itself). At the same time however, blue can be thought to signify peacefulness and calm.
- Blue is used to symbolise pornographic or indecent material and is sometimes used to represent crime in general (it is a colour closely linked to the police). Again a contradiction exists, as blue can be thought to signify good.
- If you look closely at the definition of blue above you will find that it can be used to define something that is immoral (indecent), yet also something moral (puritanical).
- Even in Feng Shui there is a contradiction. Blue is not only a colour that symbolises new beginnings but is also used as a cold mourning colour.
It seems blue is not only a colour but a word, full of contradictions.
How does Blue relate to my proposal?
In my proposal I suggest an idea based on the phrase 'Out of the Blue'. The phrase is used to describe something unexpected coming from nowhere - blue being calmness and tranquility. The phrase describes something very contradictory occurring which is interesting as blue is, as talked about above, full of contradictions itself.
Out of the Blue
My (shortlisted) proposal for an exhibition piece to celebrate the opening of Walsall's New Art Gallery in 1999.