Yellow triangle, thin orange line, and area of white polka dots on a blue background.

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Abstract illustration of circles, a white stripe and black wavy lines against a background of red and white.

Back of button says 6/79 found on Tumblr page referencing Button Museum YB 4/17/21

Blue and red triangles, a black circle and yellow geometric shape on a white background.

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Optical art style spiral in purple on a white background.

The design pattern here is in the style of Op Art, an art movement and abbreviation of “optical art”. The term comes from a 1964 Time Magazine article on the artistic experiments of French-Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely, otherwise known as the “grandfather” of Op Art. These experiments began in the 1930s and came to define the movement—Vasarely’s interest in color, line, science, and optics resulted in an art style reliant on the trompe l’oeil, or, translated from the French, the “deception of the eye.” The style became popular due to its engaging and accessible nature and was incorporated into popular culture and design trends. Retrospectively, the spirals, swirls, and bright colors of Op Art seem almost synonymous with the 1960s and 70s, drawing to mind an age of psychedelics and counter culture with its hypnotic, groovy aspects. 

Op art, at its best, points out the subjectivity of human perception. The design on this button is no different.

Background is divided two-thirds blue, one-third purple with a white stripe, red and white circle, yellow triangle and two solid black circles on blue side, outlined black circles along inside edge of purple side.

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Red ring, black circle, angled green line and a black grid on a white and partially yellow background.

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Abstract green shapes, red and blue lines and rectangles on a white background.

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Red heart shape and part of a yellow triangle on a black and white striped background.

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Treble clef, musical notes and sharp symbol on two horizontal lines on a background divided into purple, yellow and white portions.

Visual music explores the tension between art and music. Artists interpret music figuratively or literally through artistic composition with or without sound. They create their expressions through color, painting, film, light, performance, animation, and computer graphics. Visual music continues to be prominent in contemporary art, mostly applying digital techniques

Visual music spans several centuries in various manifestations. Isaac Newton created the color wheel in 1704 by matching pitches to color, which inspired Lumia projections and chromatic music, where instruments translated notes through colorful lights. In the 20th century, Wassily Kandinsky was a famous painter with synesthesia, a neurological condition where multiple senses occur simultaneously. He created abstract art by associating colors with musical instruments and sounds and expressing this with geometric shapes and lines. Many influential modern and contemporary artists with synesthesia transform the art world through their works.

Synchronism, a 20th century art movement coined by Morgan Russell, analyzed the intersection between color (based on the color wheel) and sound in abstract paintings like composing a symphony with color. Similarly, composers like John Cage and Cornelius Cardew created graphic scores or graphic notation, compositions replacing musical notation with visual art including diagrams, color, and geometric shapes. 

Black and white striped heart shape on a half purple, half yellow background with a white stripe in the middle and a black circle off to the side. 
 

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