The Exploratorium in San Francisco is a place where art, science and human perception come together. Artists are invited to reimagine scientific phenomena in ways that spark curiosity and experimentation, creating experiences that help people see familiar things from new perspectives. Stefanie Posavec’s latest digital artwork, “See in CMYK,” does just that.
The Exploratorium and Google Arts & Culture invited Posavec to create “See in CMYK” as an opportunity to bridge artistic imagination, scientific curiosity and emerging technology. Collaborations like this create new ways for people to engage with ideas that sit at the intersection of art and science, moving them beyond observation and into active experimentation.
“See in CMYK” builds on Stefanie Posavec’s physical mural, “A Four-Color Field,” originally commissioned for the Exploratorium’s Surface Space mural series.
For over a century, the standard color printing process has used just four basic inks — cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black) — to trick our brains into seeing millions of vibrant colors. Up close, Stefanie’s mural is an intricate collection of tiny, colorful symbols: cyan clouds, magenta lips, yellow suns, black cats. But from afar, the experience transforms. Viewed from a distance, these thousands of isolated icons melt together to create a singular large image of iconic California poppies.
