Polyphantom-Art
Olga Stein
the artist is the author of the direction
an experimental psychophysical trend in visual art
Polyphantom-Art entymology
Poly - (from Greek πολύς / polýs) - "many", "numerous". Phantom - (from Greek φάντασμα / phántasma) - "phantom", "vision", from - φαίνειν / phaínein - "to make visible".
Poly - (from Greek πολύς / polýs) - "many", "numerous". Phantom - (from Greek φάντασμα / phántasma) - "phantom", "vision", from - φαίνειν / phaínein - "to make visible".
Definition of Polyphantom-Art
Polyphantom-Art is an experimental psycho-physical movement in visual art,
in which the main artistic material is the afterimage (phantom) — an inner illusory phenomenon
that arises in human perception of a natural phenomenon or a material object, that is, of an image itself.
Expanding the possibilities of color perception by relying solely on visual phantoms
in which the main artistic material is the afterimage (phantom) — an inner illusory phenomenon
that arises in human perception of a natural phenomenon or a material object, that is, of an image itself.
Expanding the possibilities of color perception by relying solely on visual phantoms
is like showing the viewer both sides of the Moon at the same time.
Scientific, Historical and Theoretical Context
Afterimage and its Perception
The phenomenon of the afterimage (phantom) has long been studied by doctors, physiologists, and color theorists.
It was described in detail in the context of research on successive and simultaneous contrasts by many well-known artists.
Yet, until now, no one has used this phenomenon as the main material for creating works of art.
Afterimage and Perception
Hermann von Helmholtz — German physicist, physician, physiologist, psychologist, and acoustician — studied and explained the effect of the negative color afterimage.
This phenomenon occurs when, after a prolonged gaze at a colored object, and then shifting the gaze to a neutral (white) surface, a “ghostly” image of that object appears, but in the complementary color.
For example, after looking at a red object, one perceives a bluish-green afterimage; after a blue one — a yellow.
Afterimages usually appear in the pauses between saccadic eye movements — natural, rapid, constant micro-shifts of the pupils when looking at an object, reading, watching a film, or even during sleep.
That is why, when observing an afterimage, it seems to be constantly moving.
Сomplementarity of colors
Ewald Hering, German physiologist, proposed in 1870 the Opponent Theory of Vision, explaining that the visual system processes color not as isolated stimuli, but through the interaction of opposite color pairs (red–green, blue–yellow, white–black).
He suggested that these pairs exist as “opponents” and cause afterimages when retinal cells, excited by one color, later switch to its counterpart.
Vibration
Robert Darwin (1786), father of Charles Darwin, was among the first to describe this phenomenon in detail.
He distinguished two types of afterimages:
– Negative — appearing on a dark background,
– Positive — on a light one.
Afterimages seem to vibrate, alternating between light and dark phases, gradually weakening and eventually disappearing.
Illusoriness
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in his Theory of Colors, described these visual effects as “phantom spectra” or “illusory color forms” that arise not outside, but inside the human visual system itself.
He believed that color perception is not the reflection of light, but an internal activity of vision that creates its own visual forms.
Transience
The bright flash of a phantom is always followed by its rapid, rhythmic fading and disappearance.
This too is explained by the physiology of the human visual apparatus.
Energy
Kazimir Malevich claimed that color, freed from material form, possesses its own energy — an inner force independent of shape.
Therefore, a phantom charged with light and color also carries these qualities and can be used as a material for artistic creation.
Dynamics
Wassily Kandinsky saw in color movement, temperature, and mood — a living, dynamic essence capable of transmitting inner states and spiritual tension.
Indeed, the phantom is by nature highly metaphorical, mobile, and dynamically associative.
Complementarity
The color of an afterimage is always conditionally complementary to the color of the original image.
Variability
Josef Albers, professor at the Bauhaus and later Yale University, developed a unique system of teaching in which the theory of color was based not on strict scientific laws, but on personal perception and practical experience.
He experimented with forms and prototypes, exploring how the eye reacts to contrast, proximity, and the interaction of colors.
His book Interaction of Color is fundamental to understanding the relativity of color— how perception depends on context, background, light, and even the observer’s mood.
The phenomenon of the afterimage (phantom) has long been studied by doctors, physiologists, and color theorists.
It was described in detail in the context of research on successive and simultaneous contrasts by many well-known artists.
Yet, until now, no one has used this phenomenon as the main material for creating works of art.
Afterimage and Perception
Hermann von Helmholtz — German physicist, physician, physiologist, psychologist, and acoustician — studied and explained the effect of the negative color afterimage.
This phenomenon occurs when, after a prolonged gaze at a colored object, and then shifting the gaze to a neutral (white) surface, a “ghostly” image of that object appears, but in the complementary color.
For example, after looking at a red object, one perceives a bluish-green afterimage; after a blue one — a yellow.
Afterimages usually appear in the pauses between saccadic eye movements — natural, rapid, constant micro-shifts of the pupils when looking at an object, reading, watching a film, or even during sleep.
That is why, when observing an afterimage, it seems to be constantly moving.
Сomplementarity of colors
Ewald Hering, German physiologist, proposed in 1870 the Opponent Theory of Vision, explaining that the visual system processes color not as isolated stimuli, but through the interaction of opposite color pairs (red–green, blue–yellow, white–black).
He suggested that these pairs exist as “opponents” and cause afterimages when retinal cells, excited by one color, later switch to its counterpart.
Vibration
Robert Darwin (1786), father of Charles Darwin, was among the first to describe this phenomenon in detail.
He distinguished two types of afterimages:
– Negative — appearing on a dark background,
– Positive — on a light one.
Afterimages seem to vibrate, alternating between light and dark phases, gradually weakening and eventually disappearing.
Illusoriness
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in his Theory of Colors, described these visual effects as “phantom spectra” or “illusory color forms” that arise not outside, but inside the human visual system itself.
He believed that color perception is not the reflection of light, but an internal activity of vision that creates its own visual forms.
Transience
The bright flash of a phantom is always followed by its rapid, rhythmic fading and disappearance.
This too is explained by the physiology of the human visual apparatus.
Energy
Kazimir Malevich claimed that color, freed from material form, possesses its own energy — an inner force independent of shape.
Therefore, a phantom charged with light and color also carries these qualities and can be used as a material for artistic creation.
Dynamics
Wassily Kandinsky saw in color movement, temperature, and mood — a living, dynamic essence capable of transmitting inner states and spiritual tension.
Indeed, the phantom is by nature highly metaphorical, mobile, and dynamically associative.
Complementarity
The color of an afterimage is always conditionally complementary to the color of the original image.
Variability
Josef Albers, professor at the Bauhaus and later Yale University, developed a unique system of teaching in which the theory of color was based not on strict scientific laws, but on personal perception and practical experience.
He experimented with forms and prototypes, exploring how the eye reacts to contrast, proximity, and the interaction of colors.
His book Interaction of Color is fundamental to understanding the relativity of color— how perception depends on context, background, light, and even the observer’s mood.
The author's experience
The years 2022–2023 became a time of remarkable discoveries:
during my practical studies of successive and simultaneous contrasts in the course Color in Painting, I succeeded in extracting an afterimage from my own consciousness and fixing it onto an external creative surface.
during my practical studies of successive and simultaneous contrasts in the course Color in Painting, I succeeded in extracting an afterimage from my own consciousness and fixing it onto an external creative surface.
Now, my task as an artist is to translate this perceptual state into a visual language.
From scientific experiments to a pictorial method
Polyphantom-Art is my personal metaphysic of vision.
As an artist, I am interested in seeing the world not in its familiar colors, but in their polyphantomic reflection.
Introducing polyphantomic elements into compositions alongside real objects sharpens the sense of life’s transience, the absence or presence of something significant, variability, and even the irony of an eternally elusive reality.
The polyphantom is my artistic material — like clay in a sculptor’s hands.
As an artist, I am interested in seeing the world not in its familiar colors, but in their polyphantomic reflection.
Introducing polyphantomic elements into compositions alongside real objects sharpens the sense of life’s transience, the absence or presence of something significant, variability, and even the irony of an eternally elusive reality.
The polyphantom is my artistic material — like clay in a sculptor’s hands.
Polyphantom-Art is my new language of communication with the outer world.
Contacts
