22.8.13

poisons, potions, and pistachios

Have you ever been obsessed with an ingredient? For me, right now, its Pistachio Paste, though in truth, its more of a syrup--which is important, because its liquid glossiness is mainly what I find so compelling (its hard to imagine being enamored of an actual paste) The combination of aforementioned translucent syrup-iness and an evil, disney-villaness shade of emerald is something I find altogether enchanting. Like molten green glass. Like some deadly delicious poison anyone could be tricked into eating, by magic or persuasion--and was there ever anything tastier than an Essence of Nut? Pistachio, praline, almond... O to be a pastry! But, more on that later. Back to the paste. I want to call  it "lurid" even though I know that's not the word at all. And how disappointing! It sounds exactly right, so why can't it be? "Verdant" won't do; its the difference between vegetal and toxic. 





painting, tobias toberacollage, ben gileswatercolor molecular illustration, david s. goodsell;
japanese lithograph illustrations of Louis Vuitton a/w 2012, jules julien 

Isn't it funny how texture can affect our perception of a color so dramatically? The reason this substance seems sinister must have something to do with my subconscious reaction to the particular combination of sheen, viscosity, and hue.  In an interview I read recently about his new line of cosmetics, Marc Jacobs says that "shiny" is his favorite color. That guy! Though, given my obsession with a can of green syrup, I think I can relate. But why are shiny things so captivating, really? I've got this theory, which I'm sure is not original, that when you break it down, we find most things beautiful because they look like babies, sex, or the food we ate when we still lived in trees (namely, fruit). If that's true, I've answered my own question. Actually, it may even explain why that shiny green seems evil to me: to to my ancient primate brain, the texture says sap, honey and nectar, but the color, even though I'm attracted to it, gives me pause. I mean, maybe, right? Color theory sure runs deep. And, also, its tricky!


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