h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is it possible that everyones brain interprets colours as different colours but theirs no way to tell since when you try to describe a colour you invariably end up reffering to annother colour or coloured object, would this maybee explain personal tastes?

I think it has something to do with the kind of hormone (serotonine, melatonine, endorphine etc.) starts flowing while looking at colours, or images or people of the other sexe or eating p.e. an apple. And also the amount of hormone that starts flowing. Those things are, I believe, heritated from your parents, but can also be stimulated and grow into a habit (p.e. you 'learn' to eat cabbage and after a while you start liking the taste of it!)
The kind of hormone and the amount of it have influence on how you feel. That explains why some men like Pamela Anderson a lot, and some men don't!

But as long as everybody calls the colour the same name - does it matter how they percieve it?
BCNU - Crescent

That's all up to you I guess...when somebody says: "I love you" I really want to know what that person means by that! But when it comes to colours..gee, see, I am an art therapist and I know from experience that people perceive colours very differently. Emotionly, but also by what colour it is. When somebody says grass is green..I defenitely see that it is green, but also a bit yellow. In art it can sometimes be very important what colour I see, or what others see!!
Light changes colours also...ever bought something in a shop which you thought was nicely purple, but when you got home, it was plane blue?? Did it change colour, or did you just perceived it differently? The fact is, that it did changed colour. Colour is nothing more than the amount of light it catches! When it is dark, it is not that you can't see the colours, there IS no colour!!! Strang thing when you come to think of it...isn't it!

What does an art therapist do? Can you devise a treatment for somebody who paints a square of canvas (about 1m x 1m, as I recall) a solid apple green and then calls it 'art'? More to the point, can you do something about the gallery in Arnhem that bought it?

As I said when I saw it, if that's art, I'm in the wrong job!

I don't know what you are talking about, but art therapy is the English word for what what we call in Dutch: creatieve therapie (as you figured: creative therapy). Art is not such a very good name for the therapy, I think. It is more therapy by making 'art', or express your problems, feelings etc. through artistic, expressive materials. And feeling better by it, knowing yourself better by it. Getting grip on materials like clay can do a lot to your self-confidence. Knowing you CAN do more than nothing (like depressed people often think) does miracles! Also constructing things, making things is good for one's self-confidence! That is art therapy in a nutshell..it does much more!

I am an artist myself and I sometimes wonder why people buy paintings for so much money, but on the other hand, if they feel it is worth that amount of money, well go ahead! For me, a painting is nice or interesting to look at when the colours are lucid (bright?) and fit well together. But I defenitely don't like paintings like: who is afraid of red yellow and blue...I think that is a (smart!) trick!! And it also makes a laugh of other artists like me...

The fundamental reason that individuals can spend large amounts of money on 'art' works of minimal information content is that many people simply have far more money than they really need.