“Harmony +/- Dissonance” by Dustin Hunt // Spring 2023

Approximately 9’ W X 6’ H // latex paint

Dustin created this mural during and in collaboration with the MSU Science Festival and the Creativity in the Time of COVID-19: Art for Equity and Social Justice art exhibition. 

Dustin considered how we perceive color, how light waves activate cones in our retinas, and how we ascribe value to color. Some of these processes are automatic, like the way red and green light frequencies can trigger red and green cones and tell our brain we are seeing the color yellow. On the other hand, our preference or comfortability with colors can be shaped by our biases and interpretation of the world, like how we may sense fear when encountering someone with a skin tone different than our own. 

What sort of harmony or dissonance do you observe when perceiving color? What work are you willing to do to root out biases and interpretations of the world that harm others? This artwork considers the tangled, complicated, swift, and quick responses our minds make as we perceive colors among us.

This mural will be installed on Michigan State University’s campus in the near future.