Contemporary teaching materials on colour theory in Germany: Eckhard Bendin’s Kreiselscheiben zur Farbenlehre (2010)

Abstract

A colour teaching material Kreiselscheiben zur Farbenlehre (Rotating discs for understanding the theory of colour), published in 2010 by the German colour scientist Eckhard Bendin (1941-), provides a comprehensive demonstration of the history of special visual phenomena on rotating discs. Also, it newly thematizes the aesthetic value of visual phenomena occurring on rotating discs, which have mostly been regarded as a means of measurement and experimentation. These 18 discs and tasks set by Bendin show us two facts. First, the simple and ordinary hand-spinning top is the only means by which we can continuously experience the process of transformation of phases and phenomena according to the speed of rotation and the elapsed time. Second, as colour is a visual phenomenon, it is not only "to be read" but also "to be done" (Goethe), and in this process, there are still unknown visual phenomena, such as those discovered by Bendin, as well as latent possibilities for new research.