- Colour in the Middle Ages (medievalists.net)
Every society harbours unique and intriguing perspectives on colours—what they symbolize, which ones are deemed more aesthetically pleasing, and which should be avoided. French historian Michel Pastoureau has unearthed fascinating insights into the medieval period’s relationship with colour. Here are seven vivid facts about colour in the Middle Ages based on his research.
- CERN scientists find evidence of quantum entanglement in sheep (home.cern)
Quantum entanglement is a fascinating phenomenon where two particles’ states are tied to each other, no matter how far apart the particles are. In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for groundbreaking experiments involving entangled photons. These experiments confirmed the predictions for the manifestation of entanglement that had been made by the late CERN theorist John Bell. This phenomenon has so far been observed in a wide variety of systems, such as in top quarks at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2024. Entanglement has also found several important societal applications, such as quantum cryptography and quantum computing. Now, it also explains the famous herd mentality of sheep.
- when the director happens to be an expert in colour theory (YouTube)
Join me as we explore how director Damien Chazelle made use of colours in La La Land. Instead of using the standard emotional connotations for certain colours, Chazelle gives each colour its own thematic resonance and narrative weight, adding an extra layer to the visual storytelling. He uses inspirations ranging from German Expressionism to classical Hollywood to create a film that is not only colourful, but uses these colours for specific purposes.