Loaded with symbols, it expresses innocence but asserts its difference. What if it was the banner of dazzling modernity?
The color of peace, purity, purity, white is everywhere: on blouses that were once clapped at the windows, on romantic dresses of brides on Instagram pages, on white ballots of abstainers… Because even if it is his era. dark, we still want to believe in the power of white. From a tank top to fields of eternal snow, a hint of very modern whiteness.
“White, one color story” By Michel Pastoureau
Is white a color? “Yes,” answers Michel Pastoureau, a medieval historian and specialist in color symbolism, in a new work published in Sey. Because even if whites had gradually lost this status from the late Middle Ages to the end of the XVIIe century – with the invention of printing, black and white acquired a separate function, it has been rediscovered today. White is a rare, even luxurious shade, because dyes have been unable to achieve the absolute whiteness of lilies, milk or snow for centuries. For a long time in the West, it was reserved for kings and elites before becoming more democratic in the late 18th century thanks to the invention of bleach and the discovery of the properties of chlorine.e century. “White is first of all the color of gods and holiness,” explains the historian. Because the first deity was the moon, white. Vestals, druids, priests are dressed in white togas, and in Christianity we find the same liturgical white on feasts dedicated to the Virgin or Jesus, to the white smoke rising above the Vatican to signify that a new pope has been elected. … The symbolism of white has hardly changed since ancient times. “It means purity, innocence, virginity, peace, wisdom, hygiene, purity, health,” notes Michel Pastoureau. When we associate negative feelings with it, we think of emptiness, absence, laziness, coldness. Modern times have added to it the idea of modernity, science, technology, design. Like gray, white is psychologically associated with seriousness. “White and black, an inseparable pair. It was not always like that, the historian notes. “In ancient societies, the opposite of white was red. In chess, there was once a red and white camp.”
In the video Basic – White T-shirt
“White” By Sylvain Tesson
“Staying in snow landscapes is bleeding of the soul.” for the writer, the blank page is life-size, and the tracks left in the snow merge with the act of writing. White, just published by Éditions Gallimard, is the story of crossing the Alps during four icy winters. From ice to grace is sometimes only one step (snow drowning).
white coffee
Tired of little black counters? We take white coffee, a Lebanese recipe based on hot water (or milk), orange blossom and honey. Zero risk of having a sleepless night…
the beatles
It received the nickname “white album” or “double white”. With its fabled cover and emblazoned with the title ‘The Beatles’, it marks a return to simplicity after the psychedelic’s abundant musical debauchery. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, was released a year earlier in 1967. This masterful white opus marks the beginning of a dark period: discord between band members, problems with Apple Records. But it was also a huge success. White is white.
The white tank top
It used to be called “Marcel”, after the first company, Marcel Establishments, based in Roane, that marketed it, and it dressed the castles of Les Hales, James Dean or Marlon Brando in pale armor. vigor by emphasizing their muscular structure. The white and striped cotton jacket is back on the catwalks (Chloé, Bottega Veneta, Prada) and among influencers (Léna Mahfouf). Perverted, free of traces of fat, it is worn in a chic rogue style.
white art
If the recently deceased Pierre Soulage was the black artist, then Kasimir Malevich became famous in 1915. Black square on white background. Three years later, he exhibited A white square on a white background, known as the first monochrome of modern painting.
Overall white appearance
Chic or kitsch? Radical, its dazzling simplicity can be to impress showbiz and the desire for showbiz (see: boy bands or Eddie Barkley) or a search for sporty purity (feminist fencers by Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior, collection spring-summer 2017). Wearing all white is never trivial. American suffragettes of the early 20th centurye century dressed in white for militancy, a color code adopted by Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The white point
Global warming is causing irreversible shocks to biodiversity. After polar bears became trapped in the melting ice, this summer we saw a beluga (or white whale) sadly lost on the banks of the Seine.
France in white
Paint the roofs of the buildings white so that we don’t drown in the city? This is the current bet of some researchers and industrialists who are considering this solution very seriously. A clear roof covering can even reduce the temperature by 6 or 7 degrees.
white papers
In the city, they introduced us to these A4 sheets that glue stickers put on walls to denounce sexist violence and femicide. The documentary is directed by Marie Perenne and Simon Depardon Feminist response (in theaters) follows these activists armed with black paint and white paper.
white dragon
Feminist musician Pomm’s orphaned white locks, which clearly stand out against her dark hair, are a tribute; Witches, the invincible power of women, Mona Chollet’s bestseller (Éd. La Découverte). Because many women who like the singer comfort, suffered from discoloration of the skin and hair due to vitiligo, were executed for witchcraft in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. So no black magic, no white magic.
Source: Le Figaro
