*colour, colour theory, architecture, other, queer, maker, art, index, palimpsest, palimpsestuous, practice; Eileen Gray, heritage, conservation Fiona McLachlan, Architectural Colour in the Professional Palette (Oxon: Routledge, 2012). 1
Sarah Dillon, The Palimpsest: Literature, Criticism, Theory (London: Continuum, 2007). 2
Sarah Dillon, ‘Palimpsesting: Reading and Writing Lives in H. D.’s ‘Murex: War and Postwar London (circa A. D. 1916-1926)’’ Critical Survey 19, no. 1 Special Issue: Modernist Women Writers Using History (2007): 30. 3
R. Krauss, ‘Notes on the Index: Seventies Art in America’ October 3 (Spring 1977): 68–81. ; R. Krauss, ‘Notes on the Index: Seventies Art in America. Part 2’ October 4 (Autumn 1977): 58–67. 4
All the Colours of Gray: A palimpsestuous enquiry into Eileen Gray’s work as a modernity of colour Rachel Siobhan Tyler
Colour is spatial and material: it is what makes up our vision of the world around us. It is, therefore, indivisible from architecture. Successful use of colour has the potential to inexpensively revolutionise living spaces – be these urban or rural. Yet, it is often ignored or undervalued, particularly in contrast to form. Fiona McLachlan has suggested that colour theory is, indeed, completely absent from Western architectural curriculums. 1 Once, colour was integral to the core curriculum of the Bauhaus, and was extensively reconnoitred in the Modern movement. Today it has been essentially erased – or obscured. Why? Is it the fugitive nature of colour as a subject and material concept – a fear of the un-controllable? Or that knowledge of colour rests in practical application and use; is it only by using colour, or making colour, that individuals can begin to understand its complexities? All the Colours of Gray approaches these questions through a practice-led enquiry and an engagement with the material and making of colour. It turns to a ‘palimpsestuous reading’2 of Eileen Gray’s work as an art practitioner to explore the use of colour in her work and architecture. Palimpsestuous readings have a ‘queering’ power. Sarah Dillon argues this comes from a ‘continuing capacity to reinscribe otherwise traditional literary, critical, cultural and philosophic modes of thought.’3 This reading employs the creation of indexes4 of each of Gray’s built works in collaboration with photographer Tim Smyth. Combining material engagement with multiple material iterations of Gray’s practice (lacquer, wool, cork, gouache, glass negatives, colour recipes, and note taking) these indexes reveal Gray’s use of colour to have spatial and place-making affect. [Fig 1, 2 & 3]. These archival engagements and photographic indexes approach Gray’s work outside of the traditional academic approaches. In doing so, they reveal new perspectives on Gray’s work and new perspectives on colour. Furthermore, this approach was used to overcome various difficulties in accessing the architectural sites. Little of the original material or colour is left in Gray’s three built works; E.1027, Tempe a Pailla, and Lou Perou. Art practitioners who engage with processes of colour and material making are alert to both the ambiguous nature of colour and its potential to contribute to space production. Tim Ingold names the 75