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are bas ic to human life. Some o f th em a re mu ch less so. Fo r
exampl e, it 's very impon ant to consider the effects of blue in
juxtapos iti on with red .
T umin:
Impo rtam for whom ?
R osenberg:
Well , it's impo rtant
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genera l. I mean it's a form of
knowl edge to understand the opti cal effects o f colo r.
T umin:
Most peop le in the wo rld could live the rest of their lives
witho ut knowing.
R osenberg:
That' s ri ght. But thi s is still an important ques ti on . That
is, o ptica l ph enomena a re important. A science is devo ted
to
them ,
and man y thin gs have been made and develo ped as a result o f thi s
interes t. However, I don 't regard it as the most impo rtant thin g in
huma n life.
T umin:
Is th e qu es tion o f ca tegori ca l impera ti ves , whi ch comes o ut o f
majo r metaph ys ical concern s and philosophi ca l probl ems, a mo re
important p ro bl em?
R osenberg:
Certa inl y.
T umin:
Wh en you choose the p ro bl em of the juxtapositi on o f blu e vs.
g reen , you 're choosing a p ro bl em whi ch is immedi a tely relevant to
the vi sua l a rts in some sense. Ri g ht ?
R osen berg:
Th a t's ri ght. Th ey' re re levant
to
the visua l a rts and
to
some peopl e th ey are th e fi eld, o r area in whi ch the visua l arts can
make th eir maximum contribution . I'm a bo ut to di sagree with that.
Whil e it's true tha t co lo r is a spec ia li za ti on of pa imin g, it 's no t the
g rea tes t thing tha t pa intin g has ever dea lt with.
T umin:
Wh a t are some o f the grea t things pa int(ng has dealt with , the
trul y g rea t thin gs? God's g race?
R osenberg:
God? Yes, traditiona ll y p a iming has dea lt with reli g io us
or metaph ysi ca l ques tion s. Since these ques ti ons a re centra l to a ll
cultures in the past and in th e present, too, a lthough they are less
visibl y cemra l in the presem , these metaph ys ica l ques ti ons can be
sa id to be the most impo rtant qu es ti on s tha t art has dea lt with .
Therefore,
to
dea l with a rt as if it were exclu sively rela ted to co lo r is a
reduction of the stature of art. Let me give you an apt exampl e of the
answer to thi s questi on .
If
you compare the a ims of Barnell Newman
and the a ims o f Josef Albers, the fir st is involved with th e ques ti o n o f
the absolute in rela ti on
to
man , and the second is in vo lved with color
rela ti o ns. T hi s is very cl ea r.
T umin :
So on e is mo re impo rtant th an the o ther fo r art, a ll o ther
thin gs being equa l.
R osenberg:
All o th er things can 't be equa l.
