Polyphantom-Art
experimental, psychophysical
movement in contemporary art
Founded and developed by
Olga Stein
Polyphantom-Art entymology
Poly - (from Greek πολύς / polýs) - "many", "numerous".
Phantom - (from Greek φάντασμα / phántasma) - "phantom", "vision", from - φαίνειν / phaínein - "to make visible".
experimental, psychophysical
movement in contemporary art
Founded and developed by
Olga Stein
Polyphantom-Art entymology
Poly - (from Greek πολύς / polýs) - "many", "numerous".
Phantom - (from Greek φάντασμα / phántasma) - "phantom", "vision", from - φαίνειν / phaínein - "to make visible".
The Artist’s Perspective
Polyphantom-Art
"Polyphantom-Art is my personal metaphysics of vision. I am convinced that everything in our object-based world is polychrome, polymemorial — and polyphantom."
"Polyphantom-Art is my personal metaphysics of vision. I am convinced that everything in our object-based world is polychrome, polymemorial — and polyphantom."
Context
Theoretical Foundation
The theoretical foundation of Polyphantom-Art relies on studies of simultaneous and successive contrasts (Johannes Itten, The Art of Color).
Physiological Basis
The method is based on a specific property of the human visual system: the generation of a "phantom" on the retina. This is an afterimage (Nachbild) in a complementary color that arises after the gaze has been fixed on a colored or luminous object for an extended period.
The most radical way to "see" such a phantom is to briefly look into a lit lightbulb and then close your eyes. However, this is rather ill-advised. Instead, try the following: observe a bright green cucumber on a white tablecloth in a light-filled room for one minute. :) If you then shift your gaze to the tablecloth or close your eyes, you will perceive the "phantom" — the so-called afterimage.
Methodology
In everyday perception, the brain typically does not register phantoms as an independent phenomenon; however, in Polyphantom-Art, they become the central element of inquiry.
The artistic practice of Polyphantom-Art consists of the visualization of the phantom: extracting a psychophysical reaction from the realm of subjective perception and fixing it onto a material plane. In this process, the phantom is transformed into an external artistic language and utilized as an independent material.
Formula of Artistic Practice: Object + Light + Color + Phantom = Polyphantom-Art
Key Principles:
The artistic practice of Polyphantom-Art consists of the visualization of the phantom: extracting a psychophysical reaction from the realm of subjective perception and fixing it onto a material plane. In this process, the phantom is transformed into an external artistic language and utilized as an independent material.
Formula of Artistic Practice: Object + Light + Color + Phantom = Polyphantom-Art
Key Principles:
- Polyphantomicity: The assertion that the environment is not only polychromatic but also carries a hidden layer of phantom images initiated by any colored object.
- Transformation of Experience: Translating the dynamic properties of the phantom (which depend on light intensity, color, and exposure time) into an artistic form.
- Synthesis of Perception: An experimental fusion of neurophysiological memory and the actual visual process.
Scientific, Historical,
and Theoretical Context
and Theoretical Context
The afterimage phenomenon (Phantom) has long been studied by physicians, physiologists, and color theorists. Within the context of successive and simultaneous contrasts, it has been described in detail by numerous renowned artists and researchers.
Until now, however, no artist has utilized this phenomenon as the primary material for the creation of works of art. In my Polyphantom-Art, I analyze the properties of the phantom and employ them as a full-fledged material — much like a potter utilizes the properties of clay or a musician utilizes sound.
In his book "The Art of Color," Johannes Itten described all seven color contrasts in detail, including simultaneous and successive contrasts. The concept of simultaneous contrast refers to the phenomenon in which the eye, while perceiving a specific color, immediately demands its complementary color.
If that color is absent, the eye generates it simultaneously — that is, at that very same moment — independently.
Until now, however, no artist has utilized this phenomenon as the primary material for the creation of works of art. In my Polyphantom-Art, I analyze the properties of the phantom and employ them as a full-fledged material — much like a potter utilizes the properties of clay or a musician utilizes sound.
In his book "The Art of Color," Johannes Itten described all seven color contrasts in detail, including simultaneous and successive contrasts. The concept of simultaneous contrast refers to the phenomenon in which the eye, while perceiving a specific color, immediately demands its complementary color.
If that color is absent, the eye generates it simultaneously — that is, at that very same moment — independently.
Afterimages and Their Properties
Complementarity
Hermann von Helmholtz — a German physicist, physician, physiologist, and psychologist — researched and explained the effect of color afterimages. This phenomenon occurs when, after prolonged fixation of the gaze on a colored object and a subsequent shift of the gaze to a neutral field (for example, a white surface), a "phantom" image of the object appears, but in its complementary color.
For example, after contemplating a red object, a blue-green phantom emerges; after a blue one, a yellow phantom appears. The color of the afterimage is always conditionally complementary to the color of the original stimulus.
Vibration
Robert Darwin (1786) identified and described two types of afterimages (phantoms):
- negative — arising on a dark background,
- positive — arising on a light background.
Illusoriness
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in his treatise "Theory of Colors," described "phantom spectra" or "illusory color forms" arising within the human visual system. He argued that the perception of color is not a reflection of light, but an internal activity of vision, which generates its own visual images.
Short-livedness
When observing a phantom on a light-colored surface of a neutral tone, its appearance is invariably followed by a rapid, rhythmic fading and complete disappearance. This is explained by the physiological structure of the human visual apparatus.
Energy
Kazimir Malevich argued that color, liberated from representational content, possesses its own independent energy — an internal force independent of form. Consequently, the charged, pulsating chromatic Phantom also possesses these qualities.
Dynamics
By its very nature, the Phantom is mobile and associatively dynamic. Wassily Kandinsky perceived color as movement and mood — as a living, dynamic entity capable of conveying internal states and spiritual tension.
Phantoms typically arise in the pauses between saccadic eye movements. Saccadic movements are natural, instantaneous, constant, and jerky eye movements that occur when looking at an object, reading, watching a film, or even during sleep. This is precisely why, when observing an afterimage, it creates the impression of being "in motion."
From Scientific Experiments
to the Painterly Method
to the Painterly Method
Polyphantom-Art is my personal metaphysics of vision.
As an artist, my objective is not to represent the world in its conventional colors, but rather in its polyphantomic reflection.
The integration of polyphantomic elements into a composition — in interplay with real objects — heightens the perception of transience, of the absence or presence of something significant, of transformation, and even of the irony of an ever-eluding reality.
The Polyphantom is my artistic material — it is my new language for communicating with the outside world.
© Olga Stein. Polyphantom-Art. 2025.
As an artist, my objective is not to represent the world in its conventional colors, but rather in its polyphantomic reflection.
The integration of polyphantomic elements into a composition — in interplay with real objects — heightens the perception of transience, of the absence or presence of something significant, of transformation, and even of the irony of an ever-eluding reality.
The Polyphantom is my artistic material — it is my new language for communicating with the outside world.
© Olga Stein. Polyphantom-Art. 2025.
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