How Color Shapes Culture, Meaning, and Memory
With Christopher Michlig, Artist, Author, and Professor of Art at the Clark Honors College, University of Oregon.
About the Lecture
Color carries meaning across centuries, across cultures, across the aisle at the grocery store. Color is one of the most powerful and pervasive symbolic languages humans have ever developed, and its significance shifts constantly depending on who’s using it, and when.
In this interdisciplinary lecture – drawn from his Clark Honors College course 12,000 Colors – Michlig takes a chromatic tour through history, culture, psychology, and color theory – one color at a time. Each color becomes a lens for examining how symbolism, emotion, and meaning have evolved through works of art and literature, through film and fashion, through product design and trend forecasting, through politics and pop culture.
Why does a single color come to signify power in one era and subversion in the next? How do brands, filmmakers, and artists harness color to shape what we feel before we’ve registered what we’re seeing? And what does the color we’re drawn to or repelled by reveal about the world we live in?
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how color quietly shapes our tastes, our emotions, and the culture around us.
Science Pubs are a casual lecture series located in fun venues across the region, recommended for ages 10 and over.
Tickets
$8 suggested donation | Advance tickets recommended
Zoom Option
If you are unable to join us in person, you can watch on Zoom. You must register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
About the Speaker
Christopher Michlig is an artist, author, and Professor of Art at the Clark Honors College, University of Oregon.
As an educator, Michlig is recognized for his innovative and experimental pedagogy, emphasizing critical making, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the integration of emerging technologies into studio practice. His teaching fosters curiosity, rigor, and conceptual clarity — guiding students to develop materially inventive works that engage the complexities of contemporary visual culture.
Michlig received his MFA from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, and he is currently Professor of Art and Faculty Fellow at the Clark Honors College within the University of Oregon’s College of Design.
Questions? Email sciencepub@omsi.edu
Ticketing questions call 503.797.4000 x0
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are unable to join us in person, you can watch on zoom. You must register in advance via the ticketing page or the link above. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
To guarantee a seat at this event, we recommend you purchase your ticket in advance. Please show your ticket at the check-in table in front of the theater upon arrival.
We will usually have tickets available at the door. They are first-come, first-served, and admission will remain a suggested donation.
Kennedy School Theater has everything from pizza to burgers to popcorn and candy. Food and drink are welcome in the theater. No outside food or drink is allowed.
It is free to park in McMenamins Kennedy School parking lot and there is plenty of free street parking in the neighborhood