1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,880 Speaker 1: Hey, you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 2 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:11,960 Speaker 1: name is Robert Lamb and it's Saturday, so we have 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: another Vault episode for you. This is going to be 4 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 1: from nine twenty four to twenty twenty four. This is 5 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: going to be The Universe in one hundred Colors with 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: Tyler Thrasher. This is my interview with artist and author 7 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: Tyler Thrasher about his then new book The Universe and 8 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: one hundred Colors Weird and Wondrous Colors from Science and Nature. 9 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: It's a real fun chat. I really enjoyed talking with 10 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: Tyler about this topic and about his book, which is 11 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: indeed a beautiful volume to behold. Let's dive right into 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: the interview. 13 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,519 Speaker 2: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, production of iHeartRadio. 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 15 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: name is Robert Lamb. On today's episode, I'm going to 16 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: be chatting with artist and author Tyler Thrasher the new 17 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 1: book The Universe in one hundred Colors Weird and Wondrous 18 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: Colors from Science and Nature. Many of you are familiar 19 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: with his work already. You may follow him on Instagram 20 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: where he is Tyler Thrasher Art, or you may have 21 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,199 Speaker 1: seen his work out in the world. It's pretty gorgeous stuff. 22 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: The book is out now and it too is pretty amazing. 23 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: So without further ado, let's jump right into the interview 24 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: than you. Hey, Tyler, welcome to the show. 25 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 3: Hey, thanks for having me. 26 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: So a lot of the listeners already know you, but 27 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: would you mind introducing yourself to those who don't follow 28 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: you online or haven't viewed and experienced your work. 29 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, So, my name's Tyler Thrasher. I was gifted with 30 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 3: a really cool last name. A lot of people think 31 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 3: I like changed my name. I didn't. That's my real 32 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 3: last name, and I do a lot of things. I 33 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 3: am a self taught chemist, botanist, artist, illustrator, and I 34 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 3: mean a lot of my work have all around collaborating 35 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 3: with nature. So a lot of people know me as 36 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 3: the guy who grows crystals on insects. I crystallize insects 37 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 3: and I grow opals, I hybridize plants. Pretty much any 38 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 3: area where I can sort of bring creativity into nature 39 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 3: and science, I'll find a way to do it. Yeah. 40 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: So, I understand you're a fellow Dungeons and Dragons player. 41 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: Would it be correct to assume that you're a multi 42 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: class character in real life? 43 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 3: Oh man, yes, I definitely think I am a multi 44 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 3: class Funny enough, I actually I don't actually play as 45 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 3: a player. I'm always the dungeon master. I have to 46 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 3: be the dungeon master. Yeah. 47 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to back up to some of the 48 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: roles you just mentioned. So growing opals when it comes 49 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: to this, just takes me back maybe to like childhood, 50 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: like crystal growing kits, and that's where my experience with 51 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: anything like this ends. Can you walk us through what 52 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:58,959 Speaker 1: growing oples consists of? 53 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, so growing opals is sort of a different route 54 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,679 Speaker 3: than like when I synthesize crystals, and opal isn't necessarily 55 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 3: considered a crystal. It's a mineraloid. So crystals have very 56 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:16,919 Speaker 3: specific geometry that is unique to their molecular structure, whereas 57 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 3: opals are comprised of nanoparticles that perfectly line up. So essentially, 58 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 3: to grow an opal, you have to find a way 59 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 3: to produce nanoparticles. In the case of opals at silica 60 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 3: hydrated silica spheres, you have to find a way to 61 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 3: produce those silica spheres. Then you have to find a 62 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 3: way to allow gravity to let those particles sediment to 63 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 3: the bottom of a container, where they form a cubic 64 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 3: lattice of perfectly aligned silica spheres. 65 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: Oh wow. So I was looking at some of the 66 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: images of your artwork on your website here, and I 67 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: was especially drawn to these, to the works you've kind 68 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: of alluded to already, with like insects specimens and skulls 69 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: and crystals and crystaline instances. It takes on a magical 70 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: kind of like brightly occult sensibility that I really dig 71 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: So how did you come to this particular aesthetic, What 72 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: does it mean to you? What are the challenges in 73 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: synthesizing it? 74 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, I did not expect to be the guy that 75 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 3: grows crystals on insects. That wasn't on my list of jobs. 76 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:28,280 Speaker 3: And I stumbled upon this practice late in college. I 77 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 3: was a few months from graduating, getting my degree in 78 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 3: computer animation, and I had realized pretty late that I 79 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 3: did not want to be an animator and that's not 80 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 3: what I wanted to do. And I panicked, and I 81 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 3: was like, what am I going to do? Well? While 82 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 3: I was in college, I spent a lot of time caving. 83 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 3: I spent a lot of time underground, and I was 84 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 3: around a lot of minerals, so I was illustrating minerals, 85 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 3: illustrating crystals, illustrating crystals, growing on the things I found 86 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 3: while hiking, so like cicada shells and stuff. And one 87 00:04:58,000 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 3: day I sat there and I was like, I wonder 88 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 3: if I could make a real crystallized cicada shell instead 89 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 3: of just drawing and illustrating them. And I tapped into 90 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 3: my chemistry background from high school, and I was like, 91 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 3: I think I can do this. I went to my 92 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 3: kitchen and my college house, boiled up some chemicals and 93 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 3: I grew some crystals on a cicada shell and I said, 94 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 3: this is I mean, the first time I saw this, 95 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 3: I was like, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen. 96 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 3: I fell in love, particularly because I didn't get to 97 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 3: pick the outcome. I was completely surprised when I pulled 98 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 3: it out of the vat. I didn't know what to expect, 99 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,679 Speaker 3: and so it felt like this collaboration where I was like, Okay, 100 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 3: here's the plan, but the final outcome I have no 101 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 3: idea what this is going to look like. It blew 102 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 3: my mind. I was like, this is the most fascinating 103 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,799 Speaker 3: thing I've ever seen, and then I shared it online. 104 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,799 Speaker 3: It went viral, and it became my full time job overnight, 105 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 3: pretty much was providing the world with crystallized insects. And 106 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 3: after a while, there aren't many challenges. Like once you 107 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,359 Speaker 3: get the hang of it, you kind of start growing 108 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 3: crystals like it's a second language, and you kind of 109 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 3: understand then the ambient conditions that are needed to grow 110 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 3: really good crystals, and you do. You do it for 111 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 3: enough years and you're just kind of pretty much growing 112 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 3: crystals in your sleep. 113 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, there is something about a crystal. I know. I 114 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: always come back to a quote I think it was 115 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: Thatch cart Toole talking about crystals is like like a 116 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: focus for being present in the now, you know that, 117 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: Like even you know, and certainly there're there are various, 118 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: you know, other avenues one can take crystals in with, 119 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,840 Speaker 1: you know, spiritual beliefs and all. But but just like 120 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: the physical reality of the crystal, whatever form it's taking, 121 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: like there's just something captivating about it. 122 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you're looking at the pure geometry of 123 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 3: those molecules. Each crystal is comprised of a series of molecules. Naturally, 124 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 3: curring crystals have many different molecules with impurities that add 125 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 3: to their color, like anthysts for instance, or emerald. But 126 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 3: when you're growing crystals in a lab through like different 127 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 3: molecule that can ionize, what you're looking at is like 128 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 3: the pure representation of the molecular geometry you know of 129 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 3: that compound, which I think is really cool. It's like, 130 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 3: this is that compound in perfect form, and it takes 131 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 3: a lot of patience and a lot of focus. Like 132 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 3: you said, it does feel like to be a crystal 133 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 3: is to be hyper present. Yeah, I like that. I 134 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 3: like that analogy. 135 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: Now. I was also really impressed with some of the 136 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: plush work that you've created. There are these amazing little 137 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: Schrodinger's cat plushies. Can can you describe these for everyone? 138 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: You really have to see them, but a short description 139 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: will perhaps get everyone more excited to go check it out. 140 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 3: Yeah. So I got in the realm of making scientific plushies, 141 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 3: like quantum plushies and like molting insect plushies, and I 142 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 3: have this idea to do a Schrodinger's cat Schrodinger's cat 143 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 3: plushy where I was like, okay, you have this box 144 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 3: and in the box is either a dead cat or 145 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 3: a living cat, and if you never open the box, 146 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 3: you can you can assume you have either a dead 147 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 3: cat or a living cat, or both. And for those 148 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 3: that aren't familiar with the Schrounger's Cat thought experiment, essentially 149 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 3: you put a cat in a box with a vial 150 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 3: of poison that is released whenever a particle decays, and 151 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 3: the particle will decay, you just don't know when. It's random, 152 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 3: and until you open the box, you can assume that 153 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 3: the cat I either consume the poison, was killed or 154 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 3: hasn't consumed it yet, and so it's neither dead nor alive. 155 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 3: I was like, I want to plushy like this, and 156 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 3: then I designed a third plushy called the Quantum Cat, 157 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 3: which is neither dead nor alive. It's in a quantum 158 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 3: state between the two, and there's like a ten percent 159 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 3: chance you pull the quantum Cat. I just I love 160 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 3: turning science and thought experiments into physical things that people 161 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 3: can play with. 162 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I thought this was a really great idea 163 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 1: and I love the design for each of the three cats. 164 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: Very cool. Well. 165 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:03,319 Speaker 3: Thanks. 166 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: Now, the new book out today is The Universe in 167 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: one hundred Colors, Weird and Wondrous colors from Science and nature. 168 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: I've got a physical copy right here. It's a gorgeous, 169 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 1: vibrant book that's equal parts like visual coffee table pizazz 170 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: and scientific exploration of color in our visual universe. So 171 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: can you tell us how this book came together, how 172 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: you came to work with your co author Terry Mudge 173 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: on this one. Yeah. 174 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 3: So I had this idea to make a book on 175 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 3: color from one specific origin, and that was my experiments 176 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 3: with growing Opal. And I know we talked about Opel already, 177 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:47,440 Speaker 3: but I didn't get to describe Opal, which is probably 178 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 3: my favorite, absolute favorite thing on the planet. Like I said, 179 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 3: Ople's comprised of siliconnana particles and what happens is white 180 00:09:56,160 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 3: light enters that cubic lattice and it's difracted into all 181 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 3: of its different wavelengths, which is why Opal was so 182 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 3: colorful and vibrant. And when you rotate it, it changes color. 183 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 3: It's one of the most mesmerizing things this planet has produced, 184 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 3: or the universe has produced, in my opinion. And when 185 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 3: you grow your first Opal in a lab and you 186 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 3: put it under a microscope and you shine a white 187 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,679 Speaker 3: light on it, you would have to be dead inside 188 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 3: to not fall absolutely in love with the world all 189 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 3: over again. To see this photonic crystal in action. I 190 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 3: grew my first opal. I screamed. I was running around 191 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 3: the lab cursing. I was like, this is the most 192 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 3: you freaking amazing thing I've ever seen. And I looked 193 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 3: at this thing and I said, I wonder if I 194 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 3: can get other people to feel this way, if I 195 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 3: can get other people to feel the way I feel 196 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 3: about color, just from this opal. And I went to 197 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 3: my friend Terry Mudge, who's the co author. Him and 198 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:54,719 Speaker 3: I were sharing a space at the time. He has 199 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 3: a really wonderful science shop called the stem Cell Science Shop, 200 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 3: and he has all these weird materials in his shop, 201 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 3: and he does a really cool subscription boxer. He sends 202 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 3: all these strange materials. And I said, Terry, you have 203 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 3: all these weird materials in your shop. I love color. 204 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:13,719 Speaker 3: Do you think you and I could work together on 205 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 3: a book where I photographed some of the materials and 206 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 3: you and I write about one hundred really fascinating colors 207 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,959 Speaker 3: talk about color science. And he said heck yeah. He 208 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 3: said heck yeah. I took the idea, took it to 209 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 3: a publishing company I was working with I was like, 210 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 3: I want to write a book on color. And I 211 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 3: got this really cool science guy who's equally as nerdy 212 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 3: as I am. We want to make a cool color book. 213 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 3: And they said that sounds awesome. Let's get started. 214 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: So did your photography work serve as sort of like 215 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: the initial backbone for the structure of the book. 216 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 3: Yeah. So I also do photography, and I photographed a 217 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:51,960 Speaker 3: handful of images. And there the morpho butterfly wing, there's 218 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 3: some uranium glass, some Libyans desert glass, some beetle elytra, 219 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 3: a handful things, and there's some really cool liken that 220 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 3: I sourced a lot of these objects and I photographed 221 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 3: them with a macro lens. A lot of it I 222 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:10,959 Speaker 3: didn't photograph because there's things like radiation, like the Globe 223 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 3: of Radiation, and like brain scans and stuff like that 224 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 3: I didn't photograph, but a lot of it I did. 225 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 3: And that to me was like I can get people 226 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 3: to travel through the lens with me and get really 227 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 3: really close to some of these objects and see the 228 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:31,599 Speaker 3: wonder and all the crunchy details and the juicy textures 229 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 3: and all that, and get people to love color up close. 230 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: Earlier, I mentioned the coffee table books. And I mean 231 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: that in a loving way, because I know coffee table 232 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: books can maybe sometimes mean like a book be put 233 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,559 Speaker 1: on a coffee table and forget about. But I tend 234 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: to think of it as like, you know, a book 235 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: you can pick up in any moment. You can read 236 00:12:57,679 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: cover to cover, but you can pick up at any moment, 237 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 1: flip through it, find something eye catching, and learn something 238 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: pretty cool. And I think one of the things that 239 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: aids this book is this interesting classification system, in the 240 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: system of icons that you use. I really love this touch. 241 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: Can you explain how this came to be? 242 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, when you write a book on one hundred 243 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:22,839 Speaker 3: colors and they're all different because we called it the 244 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 3: universe and one hundred colors, and I think maybe some 245 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 3: people might think it's all cosmic colors, like colors from space, 246 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 3: it's not. There are colors that are human made, colors 247 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 3: that are naturally occurring, colors that exist in space from 248 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 3: celestial phenomena. What other classifications do we have? Colors produced 249 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:46,079 Speaker 3: by light, structural colors? And Terry and I sat there 250 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 3: and thought, we love science, and we love classifying and 251 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 3: sorting and organizing things. And I was like, we need 252 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 3: we need a method. We need a method for classifying 253 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 3: these as people flip through each color, we need icons 254 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 3: detail where this falls. So we have like colors that 255 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,839 Speaker 3: are luminous, colors that like emit light, or colors that 256 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 3: are produced from light being emitted. Naturally occurring. So there's 257 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:15,439 Speaker 3: a lot of minerals in the book and those which 258 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 3: fall under naturally occurring human made. There are some really 259 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 3: really cool human made colors like ultra white, a lot 260 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 3: of pigments like Banta black that are human made and 261 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:32,479 Speaker 3: products of experimentation. So we needed classification for that. Classification 262 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:35,320 Speaker 3: for structural colors, so colors that exist because of the 263 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 3: structure of the particles that make up that object. So yeah, 264 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 3: we just needed a fun way to categorize everything. Also, 265 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 3: I'm a huge nerd and I love things like I 266 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 3: love Pokemon, and so I'm like, I was like, I 267 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 3: want this to be like a Pokadex for colors, Like 268 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 3: I wanted a fun way to categorize all the colors. 269 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: Awesome, awesome. Yeah, and some of the colors could come 270 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: completely off guard too, like you know some I expected 271 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: fount of Life to be in there, and various other 272 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: things you know, but then like unappetizing blue, this got 273 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: into this whole subject of the blue steak. I was 274 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 1: completely unfamiliar with this idea. 275 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, isn't it gross? Like like I knew when we 276 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 3: talked about what the image should be, like we should 277 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 3: photoshop a steak to be blue. It seems simple until 278 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 3: you look at it, isn't it. It's really gross to 279 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 3: look at. 280 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, I wasn't from Is this from the food industry business? Right? 281 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: It's kind of you said that. It's been hard to 282 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: like really nail down any like actual underlying studies here. 283 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: But the idea was that people are not going to 284 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: want to eat of food they might normally like if 285 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: it's a color they don't expect, like blue. 286 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 3: Right exactly. So what's funny about unappetizing blue is it's 287 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 3: kind of a myth. Like there was supposedly a study 288 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 3: I think it was in the seventies. There's supposedly a 289 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 3: study that a bunch of diners were presented with steaks 290 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 3: and dark room. They ate the steaks, and when they 291 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 3: flipped the lights on, they realized the steaks were blue. 292 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 3: And as the story goes, people completely lost it. People 293 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 3: were throwing plates against the wall. They were vomiting, they 294 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 3: were screaming in horror. And that study was only referenced, 295 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 3: I think once in a trade magazine. I don't think 296 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 3: it was an actual published study. It was just kind 297 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 3: of like this like this lore around food and the 298 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 3: food industry, and they took it so seriously that today, 299 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 3: still today, you won't find many restaurants that experiment with 300 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 3: like making their food blue. And I posted this online. 301 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 3: I was like, guys, you should learn about unappetizing blue. 302 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 3: And sure enough, there were a lot of people. I 303 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 3: had hundreds of people who were like, oh, I accidentally 304 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 3: made my food blue with like cabbage, Like they'd put 305 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 3: cabbage in their meal and it would stay in their 306 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 3: food blue, and they were like, I couldn't eat it. 307 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 3: A lot of people did this study on accident to themselves, 308 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 3: like just in their own kitchen, and they're like I 309 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 3: was like repulsed. I could not eat food that was blue. 310 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 3: I don't think candies count. There's a lot of discussion 311 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 3: on like, like I'm curious what your take is, like 312 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:10,159 Speaker 3: why candy is different than say a blue steak or 313 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 3: a blue burger or blue pasta. 314 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's weird. Because like my mind also instantly goes 315 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: to like blue drinks, like like you know, there's like 316 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: the blue Hawaiian in the realm of tropical cocktails. There's 317 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: there's like the blue milk. You can get it, like 318 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: you know, the Star Wars area of Disneyland Disney World. 319 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: People love those things. But and then blue candy, like 320 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: you're saying, that seems to get a pass as well. 321 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,919 Speaker 1: But yeah, I'm having trouble thinking of anything outside of 322 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: like a blueberry, and then you get into discussions of well, 323 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: how blue is a blueberry, and we're we're talking about 324 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: different types of blue. 325 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was funny, as blueberries are actually more purple 326 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 3: than blue. Blue is actually a really hard color to 327 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 3: find the nature. But yeah, I just I think it's 328 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 3: interesting a lot. It brought up a big debate online 329 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 3: where people are like, well, why why does candy get 330 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 3: a pass. It's like, well, things that are synthesized like candies, 331 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 3: it's not naturally occurring, So I think there's something in 332 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 3: our biology that gives it a pass. Whereas if you 333 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:10,479 Speaker 3: see blue food out in nature, it kind of reminds 334 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 3: us of rot like things rotting, like a lot of 335 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 3: blue and green, mold and fungi and stuff. I think 336 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,560 Speaker 3: I just it's disgusting. It's really disgusting. 337 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think you might be onto something with 338 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,639 Speaker 1: a like we don't necessarily think of candy as food, 339 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: and in the sense that I might enjoy a twizzler, 340 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 1: but I'd never think of it as as anything like 341 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: a fruit or a piece of bread. It's it's kind 342 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:36,679 Speaker 1: of it's like eating a plastic, but a plastic that 343 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: I like to eat sometimes for some reason. 344 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 3: Yeah. 345 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: Now, one of the more disturbing and perhaps like seasonally 346 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: appropriate entries was mummy Brown. Can you tell us a 347 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:47,639 Speaker 1: little bit about mummy Brown? 348 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 3: Yeah? You know, man, there are some really really messed 349 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 3: up colors out there, and mummy Brown's interesting because it's 350 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,400 Speaker 3: just plain discuss it's revolting that we had this idea. 351 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 3: When you look at the era, we got a lot 352 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 3: of colors from a lot of not okay place. There's 353 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 3: a lot of dangerous places. Mummy brown was this sort 354 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 3: of umber brown that was made from the crushed up 355 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 3: bodies of mummies. And as the story goes, a lot 356 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 3: of mummies every mummy is stolen. If a mummy taken 357 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 3: out of its final resting place. If it's removed, it's 358 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,120 Speaker 3: stolen for any reason. And a lot of mummies were 359 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 3: stolen and excavated and crushed up into a fine powder 360 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 3: that was used as paint and a lot of oil paints, 361 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 3: and it was a popular brown. What is I think 362 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,919 Speaker 3: really horrifying and upsetting about mummy brown is not that 363 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 3: there would be these big mummy parties where people get 364 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 3: together and like, look at these mummies and fantasize about 365 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 3: them being turned into pigments. But mummies were becoming rare, 366 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:57,719 Speaker 3: They're becoming sort of a endangered resource where people were 367 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 3: running out of mummies, so then they would use mummy 368 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 3: either mummified animals, or as the story goes, the mummified 369 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 3: remains of enslaved people. So a lot of mummies were 370 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 3: taken from enslaved people. You know, these were humans that 371 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 3: were deemed lesser than by the artists and the societies 372 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 3: that were excavating and destroying these bodies, and so they 373 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 3: were like, well, no one's going to care about these 374 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 3: enslaved peoples, their their bodies, so we'll use that as pigment. 375 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,919 Speaker 3: And I think that is a very tragic, although somehow 376 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 3: not surprising detail from the time, and well that's often 377 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 3: left out today people talk about mummies like they think, 378 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 3: like mummies from Sarcophagai and from ancient Egypt, and it's like, well, no, 379 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:45,120 Speaker 3: a lot of mummies were taken from like mass graves 380 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 3: or from the bodies of enslaved people and used for pigments. 381 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, and there are there are several in here that 382 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:58,119 Speaker 1: have ties into cultural history, maya blue being one, and 383 00:20:58,160 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: then there are others that I guess you would call 384 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: more scientific topics like horseshoe, crab blood and so forth. So, 385 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: like I say, it's one of these books that I 386 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: think it is a lot of fun to just flip 387 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 1: through and it takes you to sort of different realms 388 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: with the different colors. 389 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:17,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, some of my favorite colors in there are the inventions, 390 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:20,639 Speaker 3: like there's a new paint, a new pigment that people 391 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 3: are exploring called ultra white that you'll find early on 392 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 3: in the book. And white gets overlooked. I think, like 393 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 3: when you think of white, maybe a lot of people 394 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,399 Speaker 3: think like, oh, white is white. Not until you go 395 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 3: to paint a room or a house white, do you 396 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 3: realize there are a lot of whites and those whites 397 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 3: make a big difference on how light is reflected and 398 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 3: bounced around an environment. Ultra white is this new invention 399 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 3: that is titanium based and it reflects so much sunlight. 400 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 3: It's so reflective that it actually makes the surface that 401 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 3: it's painted on cooler than the ambient temperature around it. 402 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 3: You could just find a rock outside, paint it in 403 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 3: ultra white, leave it out in the summer sun, and 404 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 3: the rock will be cooler than the ambient temperature and 405 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 3: the concrete or ground it's on because of how much 406 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 3: sunlight is being reflected from it. So there's theories that 407 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 3: you know, if you painted like a huge like a 408 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,159 Speaker 3: percentage of all the roofs on the planet, like thirty 409 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,679 Speaker 3: percent of the roofs on the planet ultra white, it 410 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 3: could reflect enough sunlight to actually make a difference with 411 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 3: climate change. Like there's thoughts like that circulating around some 412 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,960 Speaker 3: of these colors. But then there's the question of the 413 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 3: extensive mining that would need to be done to obtain 414 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 3: that much titanium to make that much paint to have 415 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 3: that big of an impact. So there's always this give 416 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 3: and take with color, like, oh, it could save lives, 417 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 3: it could change the world, but it could also destroy 418 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 3: the environment trying to get the materials to produce these colors. 419 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 3: It's an interesting tug of war between how far do 420 00:22:58,200 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 3: we go with some colors? 421 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: Now in putting the book together again, a lot of 422 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:16,159 Speaker 1: these are your photographs. Were there any colors or subjects 423 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 1: that you've found like particularly challenging to sort of to 424 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: capture on the page, you know, because it's a very 425 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: vibrant book, and you know, there's not a single page 426 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: that you didn't astound me one way or another. But 427 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: I was just wondering, was there anything that you found 428 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 1: like particularly challenging to try and capture. 429 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,959 Speaker 3: Yes. Absolutely, there are some colors that are more concepts 430 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 3: than they are solid colors, and those are hard to illustrate. 431 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 3: One of the colors that I like to tell people 432 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 3: about is called eigen growl, and it's probably my favorite 433 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 3: color in the book, or one of them. Igen Growl 434 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 3: essentially is the color you see in the absence of light, 435 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,120 Speaker 3: the human eye sees in the absence of light, and 436 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,880 Speaker 3: the image we use to illustrate that. I went through 437 00:23:57,880 --> 00:23:59,160 Speaker 3: a couple I was like, well, if it's a black 438 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 3: and white image of someone eyes closed, you know, we 439 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 3: ended up going with the black and white image of 440 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 3: like a street lamp, which I thought was kind of 441 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 3: fun and haunting. That was a hard one because eigen 442 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 3: grawl is the color you see when you close your 443 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,720 Speaker 3: eyes in a dark room, and it's not black. A 444 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 3: lot of people think you see black. It's actually a 445 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,160 Speaker 3: dark gray. And the reason it's dark gray is because 446 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 3: the photon receptors in your eyes the protein that we adopts, 447 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 3: and those photon receptors are still active, So it gives 448 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 3: this sort of illusion of dark gray, like as if 449 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,160 Speaker 3: there is just enough light present so you don't see 450 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 3: pure pitch black. And I think that's important. I think 451 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,120 Speaker 3: it's interesting. I think it to me, it illustrates this 452 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 3: poetic narrative of the fact that we're always ready to 453 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,560 Speaker 3: perceive light, that humans are always ready to perceive light. 454 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 3: And I think that's so beautiful about the human eye. 455 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,199 Speaker 3: And I was like, that's a concept. How do you 456 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 3: capture an illustrate a concept? The first color? So in 457 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 3: the book we talked about the first color in the universe, 458 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 3: and for that we used black body radiation, which is 459 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 3: this orange and we know that as the universe cool. 460 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 3: It hit a certain temperature where the universe was a 461 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,920 Speaker 3: black body, where that temperature radiated throughout the entire universe 462 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,600 Speaker 3: and had this singular glow, and that glow was a 463 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 3: very warm orange, and that was when the universe was 464 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 3: cool enough that photons could move through the universe and 465 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 3: light could travel, and the universe would have been this warm, 466 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 3: ever present, omnipresent orange glow, which would have theoretically been 467 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 3: the first color in the universe. And that's just a concept. 468 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,440 Speaker 3: How do you illustrate that? So we had to kind 469 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,880 Speaker 3: of reference it with other images, and it was a challenge, 470 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 3: but I hope I did a good job. 471 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean absolutely, Like I said, every page and 472 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: you hear from like the section on black substance in 473 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: the brain. I was not expecting that and then got 474 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: it getting into things like ice giants and ruby chocolate. 475 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: The images are eye catching and then the you know, 476 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: each of each page's title like draws you in a 477 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:13,439 Speaker 1: little bit more like Okay, what are they? What are 478 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 1: they about to talk about? Here? 479 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 3: It really drags yet Yay. 480 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 1: So at the end of the day, how do you 481 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,399 Speaker 1: want readers to approach color after this book? What do 482 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: you want to what is the ultimate message about color 483 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 1: in our world. 484 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,359 Speaker 3: I hope I'm not speaking for too many people, and 485 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,400 Speaker 3: I say this, but I'm included in this. I think 486 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 3: we take color for granted. I think our understanding of 487 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,640 Speaker 3: color has been sort of dumb down, where we think 488 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 3: color is just whatever you buy in the bottle at 489 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:47,160 Speaker 3: the arts and craft store. Color is so much more 490 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 3: powerful than that. The stuff you buy in the bottle 491 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 3: is one tiny, tiny, tiny facet of how we experience 492 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 3: color in the universe. I hope this book shows everyone 493 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 3: who reads it, or most people, that there are different 494 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 3: ways color exists all around us, and we should take 495 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 3: the time to understand it. You know, a red paint 496 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 3: is not the same as a red flower, or a 497 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,880 Speaker 3: blue pigment, a blue food dyed. It's not the same 498 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,720 Speaker 3: as the blue on a morpho butterfly wing, even though 499 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 3: they kind of look the same. How they function and 500 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 3: why we can even see that color on that object 501 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 3: and material varies drastically from object to object. I hope 502 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 3: people read this book and realize, not only is color 503 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,679 Speaker 3: all around us in all these amazing ways, it's a 504 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 3: miracle we get to experience them, and it's absolutely astounding 505 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,919 Speaker 3: that they all function in their own fun, interesting ways 506 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,120 Speaker 3: based on the very mechanism and build up of the universe. 507 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,200 Speaker 3: I just hope people read it and they they're picking 508 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 3: their brains up off the floor and scooping them back 509 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 3: in their ear, like, WHOA, I did not know that 510 00:27:55,800 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 3: color was this complicated but also this approachable and accessible. 511 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:05,639 Speaker 1: Wow. Very nice. So I've mentioned your Instagram and your 512 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:07,920 Speaker 1: website at the top of the episode, and we'll throw 513 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:10,399 Speaker 1: those addresses out of here again in just a second. 514 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: But I understand your in promotion mode right now for 515 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: the book. This episode is coming out on the release day. 516 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: If people want to engage with your work more or 517 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: even catch you at an event, where can they look 518 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:24,199 Speaker 1: out for you? 519 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,200 Speaker 3: So I do a lot of posting on social media 520 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 3: and my website, so you can find it on Instagram 521 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,639 Speaker 3: under Tyler Thrasher Art. I'm doing a lot stuff on 522 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,720 Speaker 3: threads too. That's kind of a new platform that I'm 523 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 3: messing around with, saying Tyler Thrasher art or Tyler Thrasher 524 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 3: dot com. I have a newsletter that I try to 525 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 3: be good about. I could be better, but Tyler Thrasher 526 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 3: dot com where I post all my events and all 527 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 3: the cool projects I'm working on. 528 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: Well, Tyler, this has been a lot of fun. Again, 529 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: tremendous book. It's definitely going on my coffee table. Well, 530 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: actually I need to buy a coffee table to put 531 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: it on. I think actually on the coffee table. But anyway, 532 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: it's staying out fun book. I showed it to my family. 533 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 1: They really enjoyed it as well, and I just want 534 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: to thank you for taking time out of your day 535 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: to come on the show to chat with me about it. 536 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, Rob, that means a lot. I'm excited. It's an 537 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 3: honor to be on the podcast, and thank you so 538 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 3: much for hyping up the book. I put everything I 539 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 3: had into it, so I'm very happy you like it 540 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 3: and thank you for sharing it. Thank you. 541 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: All right. Thanks again to Tyler Thrasher for taking time 542 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: out of his day to chat with me again. The 543 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: book is the Universe in one hundred colors, weird and 544 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,240 Speaker 1: wondrous colors from science and nature, and it's out now again. 545 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: You can follow Tyler's work on Instagram at Tyler Thrasher Art, 546 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: and his website is Tyler Thrasher dot com. Thanks as 547 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: always to the excellent Jjpossway for producing this episode, and 548 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: if you want to reach out to Joe and myself, 549 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: you can do so by emailing us at contact at 550 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind dot com. 551 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 2: Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of iHeartRadio. For more 552 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 2: podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 553 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 2: or wherever you're listening to your favorite shows.