Variations of an App

When I created a new tab in my internet browser to begin my search for what Merleau-Ponty terms “variant” reds, the apps that popped on Google Chrome contained a few examples of his idea that our conceptions of colors are dependent upon the context in which they are viewed. He writes in his book The Visible and the Invisible, “The color is yet a variant in another dimension, of variation, that of its relations with the surroundings: this red is what it is only by connecting up from its place with other reds about it, with which it forms a constellation or with other colors it dominates or that dominate it, that it attracts or that attract it, that it repels or that repel it (132).” How does a conception of the color red in each of these three Google apps come to be influenced by its individual surrounding? And what factors are most responsible for this influence? Beginning with the dichromatic YouTube and Gmail apps, it seems that these two images would create an almost identical conception of red because they are so similar in style and color juxtaposition. However, they are very different, in fact completely opposite, in their use of the color white which in turn affects how the color red is dominating or is dominated by the color around it.

The YouTube app, which is almost completely red, is interrupted by a distinct white triangle right in the middle of its frame. This triangle creates a kind of tension in the whole image; because the background of the web page is also white, it almost appears as though the triangle is just a cut out, an interruption in the color red that is so consistent throughout the rest of the image. However, one could also say that just as much as the white triangle is an interruption of the red rectangle, the red rectangle is an interruption of the white background and this the white triangle is simply a resurfacing of the color white that is consistent with the web page as a whole. Already, one can see how perspective is inextricably tied to something as simple as looking at a web page and that there is more that goes into our perception of a color than just its hues, tones, and shades.

Merleau-Ponty touches on the idea of perspective or “vantage point” by means of Descartes’ analysis of Renaissance paintings. Descartes says that an image, such as a Raphael painting, is more of a vantage point than a representation of an object’s “true form”. What then is the “vantage point” of this image? And why is this particular perspective appropriate in this context? Looking at the Gmail app, it seems that to a certain extent the image is trying to represent an envelope but it is certainly not an accurate representation of that object. It looks cartoony and digital, the corners are perfectly rounded and it looks a little too square to be as functional as a real envelope. So, instead of trying to represent an envelope in its “true form”, Google is capturing a certain perspective or “vantage point”, namely, the concept of an envelope as a way of creating familiarity with email and postal mail. It is an envelope but a digital version of an envelope, just like email is the digital version of mail.