colorationwithout

Colorationwithout is a term used in contemporary art, design, and media theory to denote color phenomena produced without traditional pigments or dyes. The concept treats color as arising from light, surface structure, or digital rendering rather than chemical coloration, and can refer to both physical effects and perceptual outcomes.

Mechanisms associated with colorationwithout include structural coloration from micro- or nano-scale textures (iridescence, pearlescence), diffraction on patterned substrates, photonic crystals, and metamaterials; as well as light-based methods such as projection mapping, LED-driven displays, and augmented reality overlays that create color without pigment. Materials finishes and fabrications can be engineered to manipulate light at the surface to achieve color effects.

In practice, colorationwithout appears in art installations, architecture, fashion, and product design. Artists and designers may use programmable lighting, holographic films, or angularly dependent surfaces to produce colors that shift with viewing conditions, challenging pigment-centric notions of color. The approach is discussed in conversations about sustainability, material agency, and sensory experience, emphasizing the role of physics and perception in color creation.

Origins and discourse around colorationwithout are evolving, with roots in studies of structural color and digital rendering, and in critiques of pigment dependence in culture. It is used as a broad umbrella term for non-pigment color practices in media arts and related fields. See also structural color, iridescence, photonic crystals, and digital color rendering.