Color as a Function of Form: Building a Simple Power Source to Anodize Titanium and Niobium
By constructing a simple high-voltage power source to be used in the coloring of titanium and niobium, artists and students can develop an enhanced understanding of interference colors as a function of light refraction due to electrically created thin oxide layers.
How can educators teach color as a function of structure and surface?
While completing my MFA in Metals at Cranbrook Academy of Art I began thinking about how best to teach artists some of the science behind anodizing titanium and niobium. The color of these metals can be controlled using an electrical current to create a pore-like oxide: the resulting range of colors are due to the thickness of the oxide layer. While commercially manufactured anodizing units are becoming less costly and therefore more accessible to artists, leaving the construction and function of the power source unexamined was a missed opportunity. Inviting students to make their own high-voltage power source from easily obtainable materials allows for an introduction to basic electrical soldering, and provides a foundation from which to understand the anodizing reaction, titanium and niobium oxide formation, and the resultant prismatic color range.
The curriculum I developed has since been taught in several adult workshops, and will be included in an upcoming session at Oregon College of Art and Craft during summer 2015. The subject matter has potential for implementation across a broad range of student age groups and media focus. Providing a new way of understanding the relationship between surface, structure, and color also has the potential for conceptual implications related to media beyond metalsmithing, including painting, printmaking, photography, and fiber.
Faculty
The Evergreen State College
Julia Heineccius studied art and medical history at the University of Washington, and graduated in 2012 with an MFA in Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Currently a member of the visual arts faculty at The Evergreen State College, Julia’s own work has been in recent exhibitions at SOIL Gallery in Seattle.
