HOW TO DO THINGS WITH COLOUR an exhibition resulting from an investigation into the use of colour in sculptures from the studio Sculpture, Glass & Ceramics, Luca school of Art, Ghent by Barbara Vandecauter.

In the exhibition “How to Do Things with Colour”, we invite visitors to explore the deeper meaning and influence of colour in sculptures. The philosopher Ludwich Feuerbach once remarked that “sense cannot be reduced to concepts”.
This thought underpins this project, which examines the complexity and subjectivity of colour. We often use words like ‘colour’ without considering the personal interpretation and connotations each of us gives to it.
In developing the Impulse project ‘Coloured Matter’ at Luca, which began as a renewal of the glaze archive of the Sculpture, Glass & Ceramics studio in collaboration with workshop manager Sabine De Roo, the question arose as to how we can enrich and deepen our experience of colour in sculpture.
As part of the fascinating search for the multifaceted interpretations and applications of colour in sculptural work, I invited the artists involved to give lectures at Luca during the academic year on the interpretation of colour in their artistic practice.
This exhibition, the conclusion of the lecture series, far from being an explosion of splashes of colour, highlights the diversity of approaches to colour and emphasises the integrity in the relationship between artist and use of colour.
The title “How to Do Things with Colour” is a reference to “How to Do Things with Words”, the book by philosopher J.L. Austin, in which he argues that performative expressions of language, as opposed to descriptive statements, imply actions that alter reality.
In a similar way, this exhibition goes beyond the idea of colour as an aesthetic in sculptures. It highlights how colour is an experience that affects our perception and emotions, often in ways that are elusive in words, just like Austin’s performative statements.
This exhibition is an invitation to dialogue about how colour, similar to words, can be an active and transformative force in our experience of reality. It is an exploration of colour as a means of creating meaning and experience, challenging and redefining the view of colour in sculpture as a mere aesthetic addition.
With “How to Do Things with Colour”, we provide a platform for this unique and often unspoken dialogue.