SPECIFIC LIGHT IN SCULPTURE
by
JOHN W.
POWELL
B. A., Liberal Arts
College of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho
(1968)
M. F. A.,
Massachusetts College of Art
Boston, Ma.
(1986)
Submitted to the Department of Architecture in
Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of
Master of Science in Visual Studies
at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
June, 1989
@
John W. Powell
1989.
All rights reserved
The author hereby grants to MIT permissjo-into reproduce and
cument in whole or in
to distribute copies of this thes
part
Signature of Author____
John W. Powell
De
rt
o
rchit cture
12, 1989
M
Certified by
o
Profes~py
Accepted by
o Piene
of V4 ual Design
/
Otto Piene
Chairman, Departinental Committee
on Graduate Students
MAsr-kS1Tms INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY
JUN 0% 1989
Ulm"~
potch
II
SPECIFIC LIGHT IN SCULPTURE
by
JOHN W. POWELL
Submitted to the Department of Architecture on May 12,
1989 in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the Degree of Masters of Science in Visual Studies
ABSTRACT
is defined as light from artifical or altered
Specific light
light in three
natural sources. The use and manipulation of
dimensional sculptural
contemporary context.
work is
discussed
in an historic and
is presented
light sources
The author's work with metal arc
photographs.
and
drawings
and documented with developmental
The use
of light
sources in space to define volume and mass
is seen as the natural development
of artificial
viable material in art.
Thesis Supervisor: Otto Piene
Title:
Professor of Visual Design
light as a
PREFACE
III
insights that have driven my work are here
The artistic
defined in the terms
obvious a
force in
become a 'given',
might assume.
painting.
and
nature
of
any artistic
light.
work that
but light is not so all
is the
Where
Light
is so
light is or has
pervassive as one
light that drives music?
The light that drives and determines
life.
Or a
Light
is energy transferred and transformed.
This thesis
part
has been written in three parts.
The first
is a selective history of the use and changing awareness
of light
in structure.
The second part is a compilation and
comparision of contemporary
artist
places it
in a
five
have
or
are using
The third part makes use of my
light actively in their work.
own work over the past
who
years
with
active
light, and
context derived from the contemporary use of
specific light sources in urban enviornments.
I use light as a physical part of the sculpture.
subjective
analysis
of
light
in
In my
structure I see light as
palpable and material as any other traditonal work of art.
believe that
I
light used materially still carries with it all
the symbolic and ethereal aspects that inhabit its
with which light animates our world.
being and
IV
OF INTEREST TO THE READER
As a
student and
worker at
the Center
Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of
past four
and half
years, I
for Advanced Visual
Technology for the
do not feel that I can bring a
dispassionate eye to the work of the Center.
above
(no
In light of the
pun intended), I have not included Center projects
or individuals, for the most part,
in this thesis.
There are
numerous catalogues and documentary material avaliable in the
libraries of MIT on the Center,
consulted to
attain a
twentieth century
and this
balanced view
material should be
of light in art in the
V
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Resume'
Thesis
Appendix
VI
1
40
Thesis project
41
Illustrations
45
RESUME'
VI
John W. Powell
453 West Street
Carlisle, Ma., 01741
617 542 9528, 508 371 0642
EDUCATION
MSvS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Center for Advanced Visual Studies
1989
MFA, Massachusetts College of Art
1986
BA, College of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho
1968
TEACHING
Teaching Assistant, Advanced Visual Design
MIT, CAVS
Environmental Art and Performance
1987-89
Art and the Environment
Massachusetts College of Art, Program in Continuing
Education, 1984-86
Projects in Light
Jewelry
Teaching Assistant, 3\D Program
Hollow Ware
Supervision
of
undergradua te
large
in
students
independent
study
scale metal
casting
1984
Penland School of Crafts, Sculpture
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Forge work 1983
Centrum, Port Townsend, Washington, gifted and
1981
talented program, State of Washington
Artists in the Schools, State of Idaho
1972-80
EXHIBITIONS
1988 Otto Piene und das CAVS, Deutscher Kunstlerbund,
Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe
Interfaces,
Artists
Gallery,
Lancaster, Ohio
and
Technology,
Festival
VII
Grafitti Wall, An installation at Boston's First Night
at the bandstand in the Common. Interactive light,
dance and music designed and built by the artist.
1987
holograms
Sky
Lights,
Environmental
installation
with
and specific wavelength light sources, solo show
Bromfield Gallery, Boston, Ma.
Boston
Now...Projects,
Street
installation
on Thayer
Street,
Boston.
The
Contemporary Art, Boston, Ma.
Clear
Lights,
an
Lights,
an
Institute
of
installation for Boston's First
Night
interactive
audience,
live
musicians,
light
structures,
performance
1986 Flash
Conference at
MIT. Mylar,
11
Lights,
installation
at
the Sky Art
the Center for
Advanced Visual Studies,
helium, flashbulbs
7\8
inches=Nanosecond, installation at Mobius,
Boston with "PHYLOMEN" performance group
at
Light
Ballet "Refrigerator" by Gamma Skupinsky presented
Jordan Hall,
New England Conservatory of Music.
structures, interactive video and choreography
vapor
Grid Lights,
installation at the Massachusetts
Transportation Building,
mercury vapor,
sodium
and incandescent lamps
Alcheme' Gallery, Boston, Ma.,
an installation in
granite, cast iron and quartz light
Light Steps, installation for Boston' First Night.
mercury and sodium vapor light
1985 Wave Front, installation in Thompson Gallery, Mass.
College of Art, mercury and sodium vapor lamps
light
Line,
permanent
installation
at 63 Stuart
Street
Boston, Ma.
Incandescent Light,
collaborative
installation at
CAVS\MIT
1984 Ritual
College of
Vessels,
Art
cast
bronze
vessels
at
Mass.
VIII
Light
tidal
1983
Tides, Boston Haborfest, Peddocks
flats, plexiglas, aluminized mylar
Wall
Works,
Denver, Co.
Island
group show at Carson-Siepro Gallery,
1982 Installation, wall and
Moscow, Idaho
floor
work,
University of
Idaho ,
1981 College
of Southern
Idaho, Solo Show, Twin Falls,
Idaho
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, NYC
1980 Installation, large scale work and lithography, Sun
Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, Idaho
Centrum, Port Townsend, Washington
Installation, Boise Gallery of Art, Boise, Idaho
1979 Yellowstone Arts Center, Billings, Montana
1978 Ponds and Streams, exterior installation at the Sun
Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, Idaho
1977 Corpus Christi College, Corpus Christi, Texas
Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, Washington
1976 Cypress College, Cypress, California
C. M. Russell Museum, Missoula, Montana
1975 Galeri Baaskul, Drimmlen, Netherlands
1973 Crossroads Gallery, Baker, Oregon
Arttrain, Western States Arts Foundation
1971 University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
1970
Oregon
Portland
Art
Museum,
Body
Covering,
Portland,
1
is
Light
the
awareness and
life
physical
is
of our reality.
evidence
presented
to
us
by
effects and
or the
The combination
phenomena that have gained the word "light".
of energy levels, field
light
Our
visible luminosity that
make up
the
curious
qualities
of
surrounds us is integrated
the normal
or accepted
and
so deeply
of
its'
radiant
pattern of
question the actuality
luminosity
the
environment
with what
were
major
we consider
our world that we hardly
light.
The
separatness
puzzle
of visible
from physical reality, or
even whether luminosity could be separated
world,
that
philosophical
from the physical
questions
of the ancient
worldl
Intellectual dissatisfaction
of light
with classical discussions
and optics led to a number of later investigations,
notably in the
the
Arabic
Alhazen(965-1039 A.D.).
His
investigations into reflection
and refraction, included
discussing
camera obscura;
work
the introduction
into darkened rooms.
dilemmas left
light.
of
His
search
scholar
the
and scientist
construction
of a
of miniature moving scenes
for
a
solution
to the
by classical scholars began with the nature of
In defining the mechanisms of vision based on the
'The Nature of Light;
Press, 1970. pp 9-32.
Vasco Ronchi,
Harvard University
2
physiological characteristics of the human eye, he arrived at
the description
of the ray or point of propagation of light.
Alhazen's point of propagation went to
the eye
light and there mysteriously became vision 2 .
perhaps
in
historic
context,
reflection and refraction.
in Europe.
By the
published in
of
his
in
More important,
Alhazen's
work
with
writings
were
translated and
century, they served to validate
methods of
learning
ray of
His work encouraged investigators
the sixteenth
the theoretical
centers
time
was
as a
research spreading
Europe.
from the new
Separating the physical
nature and characteristics of light from the objects that are
revealed in its presences is the first step on a long road of
discernment and
being
as
awareness that leads
palpable
and
solid
as
to accepting
any
other
light as
part
of the
immediate environment.
The debate over
followed
spectacle
a
long
makers,
hundred
Three
the
path,
nature
of
weaving
its
glaziers
years
after
the
quality
of light
way through medieveal
and
builders
of
chandeliers.
the
introduction
of spectacle
lenses for reading, an intellectual discussion occurs.
Porta(1535-1615),
inventions
in
a
describes
transparences" on
book
the
far scenes
his book lay more in the
of
parlor
action
and fine
wide spread
of
Della
magic, or curious
"lentil
print.
shaped
The value of
acknowledgement of the
presence of lenses as actors on the rays of light rather than
2
op cit Ronchi pp 49-56.
3
addition
any enduring
the
to
on
literature
the subject.
Kepler(1571-1630) sites Porta's Magia Naturalis as the source
for
his
work
with
the
camera
as
obscura
well
as
the
his description of the inner workings of the
inspiration for
instance
eye--the first recorded
presenting the
in
the part
retina as
western
literature of
of the eye receiving the
light image.
Light was now presented as effector of image rather than
a
causul
of
part
an
With this concept firmly in
image.
the positions and
place, Galileo's(1565-1642) discussions of
time lags
the
appeareance of Jupiter's moons from behind
of the
great
Jovian
disk
gives
Hooke(1635-1703)
velocity.
investigation
observations
and
micro-
the
into
the
concerning
color
led
optical
investigating
optical
elements.
measurable
of
Newton's
and
life
abberations surrounding
Newton(1642-1726)
lens
to
a
Huygens(1629-1695)
structure
images formed with a
devices
time,
light
away from
the properties of single
personal
distaste
for
Aristotelian-Scholastic thought led him to define a system of
natural
that
philosophy
investigation of
became
the nature
a
of light.
major
tool
in
his
By concentrating his
efforts on a single phenomena, Newton was able, over a period
of
thirty
years,
to
assemble
a unified theory that would
for the next
become the blueprint for optical investigations
three hundred
years.
As with many strong figures in science
and philosophy, Newton became
the
center
of
a
dogma that
4
extended his principles of inductive analysis to wider fields
the theocratic
of inquiry, while rejecting
rationalism that
was the heritage
from his contemporaries.2
scientific investigations on the
and
The intellectual
nature of light were paralleled in the arts.
of
investigators
16th
the
Many of the
and 17th century used empirical
methods alien to the Scholastic tradition of the Middle Ages.
telescope, Hooke and Huygen developed
his own
Galileo built
of light
theories about the deployment
in space
Direct work with real materials
microscopic investigations.
was the realm of tradesmen and artists in the 16th
the
Artist
during
crafts
traditon
patrons.
at
scientific literature
mention
of
the
perspectivia,
powerful
indentured
to
their
utilization
pragmatic
based
In the
individuals.
16th and 17th century there is
of the
reflection/refraction.
of
were
times
An artists work, especially grand works, were often.
at the behest of rich and
no
century.
were strongly indebted to a
Renaissance
and
from their
of
optics
and
Giotto and later Durer use the system
on
the
phenomenae
of
the camera
obscura to revolutionize composition and include light in two
dimensional work.
demand light
The
cities
of
the
new
trading cartels
for interior spaces, grand salons and light for
the immense enclosures built to house their faith.
2 The
John
Development of Newtonian
Stefans,
1977:ppl7-35
Science
History
Optics in
England; Henry
Publications,
New
York,
5
Venetian
French
and
interested in
more
manufactures
that would
product than theory began an evolution of process
lead to
the immensely complex reflection\refraction machines
The
candles.
17th and 18th centuries were products
of the
vast lumineres
thousands of
radiance of
used to enhance the
of competition and closely
trade
gaurded
secrets,
all but
lost to contemporary record.
with
investigations
Fresnel's
his
observations
measuring device
observation
projection of
and
into his
of
an
him to
light.
work
a
translucent
limited
screen.
to
His
his own
direct observation and
deduce a cohesive wave theory of
allowed
the
separation
experiment
could
of
the
The complex
be
reduced to
experiments, opening the potential to test for
the actual velocity of
light, and
the relatonships
eventually the
of light and mass.
obvious outcome of Fresnel's work being
lenses,
was
light from the phenomena of light.
matrice of observation and
insights into
Until Fresnel,
phenomena
onto
measurments allowed
steps, single
and incorporated a
magnifing lense.
light propagation along with
structure of
magnification to
the corpuscular (Newtonian) theories of
dissatisfaction with
Fresnel's
used
designed
diffraction
image
were perhaps the
He
most mechanistic yet conceived.
enhance
light
actually
enormous
composite
advent of
The most
the great lighthouse
structures
using
precisley positioned prisms to direct the illumination of oil
lamps as
far as ten miles to sea.
His theories also allowed
6
of the
the production
theatrical lights,
lenses in
thirty
within
of
explosion
automotive head
harbinged
an
continues
that
sources
illumination
direct
death,
Fresnel's
of
years
lights and so
electric illumination systems
of practical
The advent
on.
first "flat" lenses, the common front
Holographic lense systems are
today.
based on Fresnel's theories of wave interference.*
that
propagation for
gave
reliable
velocities
A vast
realm opened
light.
in terms
described
of the physical world) led to
other aspects
consistent with
and
measured
that could be acted upon,
experiments
(In other words a medium
light as substance.
definition of
the first
with
along
light
and
time
Discussions of
speeds
or
of
out to anyone
Light
with the skill and language (mathematics) to enter in.
measured the depths of the Universe, the age of the stars and
showed evidence
in itself
time perhaps changing
of marking
time to match its physical presence.
In
the
Scholastics
classic
tradition
that directed the lines
and
Aristotle
of
of inquiry
the
followed by
philosophers and theorists in the Middle Aages, light had two
light of
the corporeal world,
personae:
lumen, the physical
and lux,
the sacred metaphorical light of the soul.
inner
light,
In art,
lux, from
the artist sought to liberate
this
within the being of the work.
The philosopher had his own
4
Optics;
Eugene
Company, 1987. pg 5.
Hecht,
Addison-Wesley
Publishing
7
work that
light of
liberated the
the soul,
alcheme.
This
was
a ground where
artist, craftsman and philosopher could meet.
The search for
mission
strange
a
natural
of
inquiry,
philosophy
alcheme,
that
would
reveal
perfection of the world was symbolized by the
the
ultimate
radiant stone,
the philosophers stone.
The search, by charalatan and
failed doctor,
as philosopher
result
in
many
illuminated,
the
for
of
the name
In the
the
first
shadows
fore
chemistry.
was no
aspects
Even
presences.
cheme,
as well
a
real
world
strange discipline, al-
of this
new
philosophy,
a
the stained
the ton.
the cathedrals
glass and wrought iron they produced by
only alcheme
world around
them.
science,
Tradesman and artist had to ignore
educated and
The natural philosophers,
logic, had
new
of scholasticism, there
the old philosophy because it could not build
or make
opening out,
time as pragmatic reproducible
rigid structure
room for inquiry.
and gentleman, would
As
steeped in
way to fit real pieces to the
as a
the
lines
between
tradesmen and
scholar blured, a new kind of artist appeared.
The men
who built the Gothic cathedrals were anonymous.
If you walk the inner galleries,
comes to
light, or
work, attributed to a
the
late
14th
some bit
is exposed.
In
personalities began to emerge.
Men
legendary personage,
century
there was
masons mark
of extraordinary iron or glass
with personal vision so strong and
technique that
the occasional
singular in
no possible
execution or
way to submerge their
8
work into
a homogeneous
Giotto and Fra Angelico
stucture.
painted light onto the walls of their churches.
works,
"....Giotto's
the accounts of his
contemporaries,
according
must
have
to
made
a
profound impression.
They appeared almost terrifyingly realistic, so true
were they to the spirit of nature in their clear and
luminous color, their free movement, and their power to
to suggest space.""
For da Vinci and Michelangelo, light was the revealing spirit
of mass.
less deep
Without nature's "contribution
and of
lights more
Bernini used
surface".'
Michelangelo
His notes and poetry record a life
let light into the block.
personal vision,
more or
or less bright the work would
appear all of one tone like a plane
long battle with release
of shadows
and illumination.
In
seeking his
he opened the block, releasing the figure.
light as
part of
each work.
Letting in
windows behind side chapels, glazing them with colored glass,
siting works so that shadow and color accentuated
the work
aspects of
throughout the day, even to times of the year, were
all part of each tableu his workshops created and installed.
in Painting;
OThe Materials of the Artist and There use
1934.
pg.
322.
and
Company,
Max Doerner, Harcourt, Brace
quoted in Sculpture: Process and
"Leonardo da Vinci
Principles; Rudolf Wittkower, Harper and Row, 1977. pg. 101.
7 op cit Wittkower, pg. 133.
9.
in The Five Books of Architecture presents
Sebastiano Serlio
ancient buildings
the Pantheon as "Among all the
in
Rome,
I
fayrest... that
am
opinion,
of
excellent
the
the opinion
it,...was of
light...others
have
that
Pantheon... is
the
invented
which
workman,
work would have but one
that this
windows
chapels.. .and
their
to be seen
that are
dark...the one light moves so to reveal..."*
The experience of being in the
the entire building.
Pantheon and watching the great occulus, or eye, surround the
Interior light in ancient
floor with light is unforgettable.
The play of natural
of the utmost importance.
buildings was
light on the interior
The
as Serlio notes, by
was possible,
great mass
lightening of
revealed structure.
softened or
placing dark before light, mass revealing light at its depth.
These
massive
structures,
remote sources was
light.
possible,
The cathedral
built
illumination from
before
all
great
relieve
mass with
makes use of color
at Cologne
in the
great window and contrasting blue greens at the sides to give
an enhanced
feeling of
The great rose window
reflecting
the
chant
has a
from
narthex, answering the chant
finish each
stanza and
length to the interior.
heighth and
two fold
the
with
fixing the
task; as
choir
their
the
own
a tympanum,
length
echo
of the
as they
light transmitted to the
interior in an orange red glow stopping time with light in
Serlio,
Architecture;Sebastino
of
*The Five Books
from Dover of the English edition of 1611,
facsimili edition
1982. pg.the introduction to the forth chapter.
10
space.
Lighting interiors of large structures remained a matter
of opening walls and relieving window frames until the advent
The Palace of Versalles is probably one of the
of gas light.
examples of a pre 19th century solution.
best surviving
The
enormous chandeliers, literally candle holders, used hundreds
of
to
prisms
glass
reflect
each
of
image
apparent
provided with
wall sconces
rooms
had only small hooks
and triple
to double
By contrast to the
luminere.
galleries
great reception halls, the
the tiny flames.
direct
mirrors placed
Ceilings and walls had
the
and
rooms had
lesser
and
speculum metal reflectors.
accept
to
the
tapers
Some
used by
servants and guest alike to make their
way through the endless corridors.
The Pantheon's
not
the least
single central oculus had
its drawbacks,
inclement weather.
The bapistry
of which was
in Pisa, one the earliest large structures of the late middle
ages,
a
has
gutter
century a small
outside.
dome
admitting
the
lit
from
light,
above.
In
and
added
keeping
a massive
In the 17th
the
over the
weather
masonry dome to
It structurally lightened the
two functions
roof and transformed the
was
pillars
center of
Opening the
light served
on
set
floor, and
interior
the
let the accumulated rain water out.
scuppers to
occulus,
around
cut
interior from
the
European
a dark
space to one
countries
of
the
Mediterranean rim , stoa or portico shaded and protected the
11
entries
of
buildings
from
the
sun.
As an individual
progressed from brightly lit piazza to portico and entry, his
eyes did not
adjust as rapidly as the apparent light level fell off.
contrast,
illumination
streaming
from
interior, far out of view, relieved
space.
the
center
and opened
By
of the
the interior
The temple of Apollo at Didyma used a similiar device
in the revelation of the mystery of the central ritual of the
priesthood.
temple
Never
provide
engraved
on
completed,
full
scale
sub-floors
the
surviving ruins of the
drawings
and
of
building
interior walls.
The entry led
through a long columned exterior space to two
dark corridors,
small tunnels,
leading to the adytum, a natural area within
the temple, open to sky and with undisturbed
Here the
details
naiskos was built.
earth as floor.
This tiny building was the seat
of the cult, separated from the world and artificially lit by
reflection and
contrast.
It must have seemed an apperation
to initiates entering the adytum*.
A more recent example of natural light and
be found
in the
architecture of
and around Mexico
materials
to
on
Luis Barragan.
Barragan
accentuate
brilliance of light
City.
City,
the
and
contrast can
makes
relieve
alto
plano
use
the
Working in
of indigenous
harshness
and
surrounding Mexico
In the Chapel for the Capuchinas Sacrameantarias Del
*Sientific American; vol 253,
# 6, Dec. 1985. The
Construction Plans for the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Lothar
Haselberger. pp. 127-131.
12
Purisimo
Corazon
De
Maria
at Tlalpan, Mexico he built and
bequeathed to the Franciscan Order
of nuns a chapel and garden.
"Over a period
of three years,
Barragan designed and built...the walls are roughly textured,
painted in a
luminous
lemon
color;
the
floors,
of large
wooden
planks, release a honey-colored glow.
by a delicately warm light.
The chapel is pervaded
Throughout the secluded convent,
sun is the ineffable presence." 1 "
Passive light
for
the
in the
vast
open air was the order of the day
majority
structural\environmental
illumination
sources
economic terms.
the
history
of
interaction.
are
Oils
of
expensive,
and fats
Artificial
both
used in
in
energy
derived from food sources.
little
see
to
a
direct
and
stone lamps 60,000
thousand years ago were
imagination
human
correlation
It takes
between
artificial light and adequate food production.
A successful
stable society
use food for
or living
group can
light--or perhaps to sacrifice to fire
be far
afford to
for light.
from the small burning bowl of fatty meat to intended
light source used in dark caves to illustrate
hunts?
Would it
Pure speculation,
future or past
but at LeMoustier cave in France,
small stone bowls with residues of fat and
carbourized wicks
have been found, along with elaborate paintings in areas
zoOrion Nature
Quarterly; Luis Barragan, text by Emilio
Ambasz, vol. 6, 7, Spring 1987. pg 64.
13
requiring some form of illumination.
exterior
Massive
auroras
eruptions,
lightning
all
strokes
lighting
date
500
from
B.C.
business
local merchants.
district
Pliny,
in
in
500
A.D., to the delight of
volume
the
Antioch lit the
his travelogue
of
Egypt goes into elaborate detail, describing the
devouted to
Pharos or
common
The Chinese used
natural gas to light the streets of Biejing.
central
are
But the earliest recorded attempts at directed
phenomenae.
exterior
or
fires, volcanic
great
illumination,
light
house
of
in 279
Great, dedicated
Alexander the
was at least 120 meters talli-.
account asserts
that a
Ordered
Alexandria.
built by
B.C., the lighthouse
Ptolmey,
in a contemporary
great crystal reflector directed the
rays of the lantern to sea at night, and allowed
the viewing
of vessels far out to sea during the day.
The
Collosus of
Rhodes and
relentless
by the Romans in their
pennisula latium
a series of watch towers established
in pursuit
had
an
antecedent
sulfur, pitch and bitumenous
galleies
magical
at
sea
ancient
and
legend
up the
in greek fire, a mixture of
fortified
of
Even aerial
in structure.
between fighting
earth, hurled
against
is
march
of the Etruscans all lay ground
for ever broadening use of light
bombardment
republican
towns.
Aristotle,
The most
consulted
by
desperate Atheneans under siege, advising the generals to
'Alexandria
E. M. Forster, Anchor Books, Doubleday and
Co.,1961. pp.144-150.
14
have their
soldiers polish
their bronze
the reflection of the sun onto
the riging
invading fleet, setting them afire.
well with stories
of
shields and direct
analog
and sails
of the
If true, the legend fits
calculators
dredged
from the
Aegean, and far seeing glasses high on towers looking towards
the sea.
The
practical world
of merchant
and soldier and
incidental record of every day event, handed down from man to
man, may speak more of the
truth of
meticulously
annotated
copied
and
ancient technology than
text,
translated
and
retaught by men with no knowledge of the original language or
world.
To these later scholars only a djinn or spirit could
possibly have
built a
tower with
could see when still two days
The
Roman
authorizing
senate
the
part of the ritual of
settlement on
of
peroidically
torches
intersections.
the
or
Hill.
enact
lanterns
laws
at
Fire and light were
establishment
the Capitilian
light that ships
from land.
would
setting
particularly troublesome
a great
of
the primordial
Each spring the keepers
of the fire would recite to themselves Rome's secret name and
make burnt offering to the spirit of place that protected the
precinct.
Festivals
enacting or
to the
of
or
Mid
Summers
Night Eve
reinventing the sun followed a labyrinthium path
present and
the twin
light\Christmas\new
recounting an
renewing,
Spring
ancient
earth
years
and
fear
bearing
modern rituals
of
fruit
of festival of
Passover\Easter.
a
and
dying
sun,
warmth
All
shorter day
once more in a
15
miracle of light.
Light
and
pratical
serviceable
manipulated and choreographed.
contrasts
with light
The solution to one problem,
large scale public illumination, brings with its
technology a
on a
taste for the possible control and presentation
far more
arching high
extravagant scale.
The
Chinese fire dragon
over a new emperor, kites streaming sulphur and
phosphours with more arrows flaming skyward to send the kites
down
in
searing
colors
all
astonished western travelers,
barbarians to
the Chinese.
technology of
light and fire to reach the west was a formula
for
magic
arrows
although ill
ships canvas.
in
The
Roger
used, for
only part
Bacon's
of this strange
notes,
spraying fire
widely
read,
at wooden shields and
A 15th century gun let all know its placement,
by day with the plume of smoke, at night with the spectacular
display
of
half
Benvenuto Cellini,
burnt
wading,
and
II troops
let Rome's
beleagured citizens
had retired by loading his guns with
"divrse salts and metals which exploded in great
firing
Tiber.
from
2
Paris
has
gunpowder.
a renaissance craftsman and goldsmith, as
well as canoner to the Pope,
know Francis
tallow
Clementines
fort,
From the 17th century
illuminated
the
colors" and
Constantines tomb, over the
to the
Seine
present the
with
massive
City of
firework
displays, building plastic monuments of burning fire, not the
X
2
128-132
Autobiography of Benvenutto Cellini; Penguin, 1968. pp
16
least of which will be displayed in July, 1989.
effect of
blinding
altogether
light
and
non-threatening
deafening
environments of
sound and
concussion
atmosphere
Fireworks are true architectures
The massive
is
soul
in an
freeing.
of light
and fire, perhaps
smell as well.
The apparent ease
and endless arch of fire slowly descending to earth, followed
by latent
The
report is
structure
exploited in
repeated.
of
this
art.
erase from
light
waits
vision and memory.
out
of
reach
construct
a
fountain
fire
of
rejuvinates itself would certainly be an admirable task.
task before light artists,
same.
Light
to be
Each fractional second event never quite
to
How
hard to
defines
or sculptors,
space
and
that
The
essentually is the
volume in sculpture, and
making it a physical aspect, part of the materials married in
one work
liberating light
from the role of partial partner,
more to be feared than exploited.
The
palpable
most
obvious
use
of
Maximus(37 A.D.)
affecting the
performance.
manifestation
light
in
of
manipulated
structure is theatre.
and
Valerius
mentions the use of various colored awnings,
suns rays,
and thus
But from the
first
the set
century
and mood of the
to
the
mid 16th
century there is little mention of specific lighting systems.
Anecdotal records of passion plays, and
burning angels,
as well
as stories
effects of
fire and
of actors beating hasty
retreats with burning breaches lend immediacey to accounts of
17
the use
flame in early theatreL3.
of open
the problems associated with
and
among
his
designs
bringing the
for
Serlio discusses
theatre in doors,
stage buildings, furniture and
equipment are directions for altering the colors of
lamps by
"directing their rays through bottles of red or white wine or
solutions of aqua vita, vernis
white wine
would go
Inigo Jones,
vitrol".
The
dissolved in
nitric and sulphric
as well as a producer on the
a painter
English stage in the early 17th century, used
in
single
lamps
intensify
and
containing oil
and
color
light.
lights,
Foot
intensity as
tallow
pockets of
small
bowls
wicks, sm okey flames quivering
with floating
dripping
with
multiple wicks
metal reflectors to direct,
polished
on the edge of the stage, wooden hoops
heads
red and
use aft er the performance, but
to good
what to do with old copper
acid.
and
flaring
and dropping
fat climbed
up the wick,
candles
water or
suspended over actors
small boys racing around with wet sponges on the ends of long
poles, and men stationed in the
to
douse
flaming
costumes
wings with
makes
for an image of exciting
stage lighting if not particularly reliable.
of
the
17th
century
the
buckets of water
sophistication
By
of audiences and
demands of patrons forced theatre lighting to alter
place on
the stage.
The
the end
time and
limelight, a device whose name is
still with us, was the first directed spot light source.
3 Stage
Lighting; Theodore Fuchs,
New York, 1964. pg.34.
2
By
Benjamin Blom, Inc.,
18
lamp against
directing the flame from an oil or gas
of
soda
or
ash
bright greenish yellow light was
a
lime,
a piece
The intensity and brilliance of the light exceeded
produced.
late 18th
in the
anything known
the 1840's.
were available by
filters all
reflectors, lenses, and color
Spot lights with
century.
the Paris Opera electrically driven arc and
In
limelights were in use by the late 1860's.
light and
Dramatic
use of
stage were assumed in major productions.
color on
Most large theatres had systems that allowed them to brighten
and
dim
house
gas
lights
grid
sophisticated
and
well
as
as
the
increasingly
lights.
proscenium
Incandescent
electric lighting systems rapidly replaced gas systems in the
1890's, with most dimming and projection
systems represented
Illumination systems
in major houses by the first world war.
that allowed
essential
direct
to
the
romantic tragedy,
displays
of
the
modern
The
first
of
and
to
in particular
produce exravagant
works
of
was
not uncommon.
Hayden's Royal Fireworks
music, the reviewing stand and banquet hall burnt
the
barge
launching
the
place were
Open flame was dramatic but
fire
performance
time
Opera,
sought
effects.
use
of
theater.
constantly
complex
unpredictable.
During
manipulation
rockets.
Arc
as well as
and incandescent
sources provided reliable and physically transformable light.
Public lighting
governmental
edict.
has been
As
a function of convenience and
early
as
republican
Rome,
19
municipalities
have
houses alike to
Most
old
required
light
Italian
the
private
streets
cities
citzens
their
century,
the
public
buildings faced.
still have iron baskets and torch
rings fastened to walls and gateways.
16th
and
first
In
Paris, during the
lieutenant of police decreed that
each cross street would be illuminated until a
specific hour
each day,
from All Hallovs eve to the beginning of Pentacost.
The fire
baskets provided
by the
fuel by the local citizens.
Los
Angeles
required
thourghfares to
quality and
As recently as 1880, the city of
sal oons
and
houses
facing
main
provide a lamp visible from the street.
intensity of
light sources
The
with such arbitrary
have ser ved more to alleviate the infinite
requirements must
dark corridors that narrow
provide the
municipal government, the
streets became
at night
than to
virtual lakes of illumination that we now assume
as public lighting.
The use of
advent
of
light
centralization
material wealth.
visible
to
in
public
century
with the
and concentration of economic and
and
providing oil for 15,000 street
lights are orders of magnitude
18th
altered
Ordering local citizens to maintain a light
passerbies
consumption of
spaces
apart
resources involved.
natural
gas
and
coal
in
the
logistics and
At the beginning of the
gas(the
product
of
incomplete combustion
of soft coal) were used in England and
France
illumination.
for
systems that
exterior
The
street
lighting
emerged from these first installations were the
20
beginning
of
modern
utility
distribution
networks.
The
systems also are the first time whole cities and the citizens
therein experienced remotely controled environments of light.
The thousands upon thousands of gas lamps that
of
twenty
years
replaced
London were attacked
unnatural and
by
the
oil lamps in the streets of
philosophers
unhealthful.
over a period
and
intellectuals as
Robert Louis Stevenson's lament
on the life of the old lamplighter seeing his first
"who's wick
was never
trimmed nor
oil no flickering flame" was
a
gas lamp
bowl filled, for want of
thin
veneer
of
humor over
Stevenson's own horror of any remotely controled or contrived
light source.
hung
a
He found particularly repulsive the
hundred
goddless glare
feet
"
over
onto
steets
Hamburg,
arc lamps
"showering sparks and a
Paris
and
by
the 1870's
several American and Mediterranean cities.
The
earliest
electric
produces a blue-white light
efficient air-arc
Los Angeles
the
high
were carbon arc, which
intensity.
large ones.
produced
some
The most
The limits of the
startling results.
had several 120 foot tall steel towers, complete
with winches and
around
of
lamps are
technology seemed to have
systems
attendant's
commercial
platforms
district.
strategically place
Six arc systems lit over
half a square mile "to an intensity that allowed one
to read
a newspapper without difficulty on the darkest night"
4
1 4 The
.
Art of
Steet Lighting in Los Angeles; Eddy S.
Feldman, Dawson Book Shop, Los Angeles, 1974. pg. 36.
21
AEG, a
large manufacture
Germany and
19th
of electric
throughout Europe
century,
offered
containing metallic
lighting equipment in
during the latter part of the
systems
that
salts that
included
carbon rods
could alter the color of the
light produced.
Gas still supplemented most arc light
1890's
when
incadescent
extended all
lighting
lamps
weather use.
technology
became
By
had
systems until the
rugged
the 1920's
developed.
enough
for
all major remote
Gas discharage lamps,
mercury vapor, sodium and neon all were avaliable and used in
extensive area illumination
systems.
The Ford Motor Company
River Rouge plant used modern (circa
broad open
interior spaces
of the globe, reflecting
1919) planned lighting,
with lamps silvered on the crown
the filament
to a
white porcelain
enamel shade that dispersed the light over large areas of the
interior.
were
Until remote
bright
security
enough
lighting
advanced systems
late
1940's
to
made
such as
and
early
Eindhoven, Netherlands,
lamps, taking
advantage
characteristic
of
metal
electric systems,
require
shading.
extensive
use
mercury and
1950's
the
what
arc
technologically
sodium vapor.
Phillips
In the
Company
of
work with short arc
can
lamps,
Industrial and
of
began extensive
of
few light sources
be
an objectionable
their limited visible
wavelength output.
High
pressure
irradiate visiblel
light
in blue-green with little long wave
(yellow-orange)
output.
Sodium
mercury
lamps
vapor
produce
arc lamps
long wave
22
Through
visible light.
developed
Phillips
in Holland and Germany,
marketed a
and
system that took advantage of this physical
highway lighting
stretches of highway
Long
arc lamps.
the metal
aspect of
extensive installations on highways
with sodium lamps and intersections and off
were illuminated
ramps,
any
road
interchange,
allowed
to
fall
out,
were
contrasted,
carefully
the shorter and to the human eye
in
dimmer blue-green mercury lamps.- 5
'kinds' of
are
with
extremely
used
argon
well
as
in
narrow
imaging
and illumination
wavelength
outputs.
area lighting
Neon
use mercury
other rare gases to produce a broad
lighting
Flourescent
pallet of color.
mercury vapor
as
limitless
helium-neon, argon, krypton
advertising tubing and flourscent
and
provide
lamps
Ion lasers,
light.
and mixed gas types
systems
arc
atmosphere
Controlled
uses
low pressure
ultra-violet to drive phosophors formulated to
simulate true color.
A virtual
late twentieth
century.
The apparently limitless amount of
potent artificial
moods
and
hand in the
palpable light
the
energy produced has afforded
our
is at
quarry of
light.
keep
Stevenson's nightmare
us
development
Light that
off
the
of physically
can be used to manage
streets.
Robert Louis
come true, there is no more true night
in the industrially developed world.
Ir. W.J.M. van Bommel, Prof. J.B. de
'"Road Lighting;
Boer,
Phillips Technical Library, Kluwer Technische Boeken
B.V.-Deventer-Antwerpen, 1980. pp227-265.
23
The skin
begining
of three
of
the
dimensionality is
western
tradition
light.
of
Since the
individuated
artists\makers light has been a consideration along with mass
and surface in proclaiming the presence of the
the
earliest
extant
reveals mass with
korous
light.
of
object.
From
the island of Naxos shadow
The
consideration
of
light is
present, but until the twentieth century an artist could only
use light as a passive partner.
the site
of a work.
stepping down into
Light can
serve to detail
North Africa and Egypt use broad planes
the
substance
of
work.
The sculptor
working in the broad long light of the southern Mediterranean
broadened the vowels of the vision in the object.
deep light
time.
could not
wash out
the body of the work at noon
The long sun dying quickly gave a hint of life
broad planned
mass.
Greece sharp
the year,
more rain
High above
to the
The light lengthens and lingers further
north, in
chisel.
The strong
white and
means hide
also changing throughtout
the great work from natures
the Parthenon's
entry minor
gods fight
their own oblivion, now trapped in far north light, endlessly
dying in the British Museums pale cool flat blue light.
Greek work
was meant
to work
well as long autumn and
each light,
in the
dim rainy
Real
stark short summer as
winter glow
elusively in
recording their very presence on earth.
Perhaps
some future true connoisseur
of light
place
for each sculpted object by how
and
time
of
making
could extrapulate the
24
light brings it alive.
Perhaps the light of evening in central France reflected
and absorbed by stones quarried in the 11th century gave some
clue to Claude Monet
that light
affected in
each artist.
work by
is a
presence that
His
series of paintings
took two years to complete, admittedly he could
one only
twenty minutes each day.
the
incandescent
light
work on each
The paintings are able to
evoke the presence of time through
from
can be
light reflected
even now
in contemporary galleries the
facade of the Rouen Cathedral at
4:30 in the afternoon.
The
puzzle of reflected and absorbed light is great, perhaps lost
in art criticism and plane field physics, but the realization
of time
and place on the image field of a single painting is
immense.
The
physical
appearance.
emulsions
Ideally,
of
the
affect the
media,
A
the
presence
vertical
light
of
transmission
the
of
a
painting
plane
reflecting
vehicle
pigment.
of
carefully
and
used
simple
layered
absorbing
emulsion
external
Giotto
is
in
with
materials.
does not adversely
light
to
fresco,
this color
at
least his
surviving work is most billiant in fresco, a term that refers
to painting
into wet plaster, to create a reflective surface
of calcite and color.
that dried
clear, yet
The Flemish painters searched for oils
remained viscous long enough to allow
them to complete the elaborate layering methods they
imbue their
paintings with
inner radiance
used to
derived some say
25
from long northern
matter
of
reflected
reflection
and
thingness of an object.
light.
Surface
absorption.
color
is a
The skin of the
Somehow a brilliant painting derives
its fire and color from its thingness as well as its own will
driven by light.
Will of
transcendent beingness
and surface,
driven by
diezo print and
record
of
driven by
light.
by light.
Perhaps
a photograph is
It is after all a light drawing.
as well a hologram,
drawing
with
light.
perhaps the
As is a
first true
A painting is not a light
drawing, it is an object meant to affect reflected light.
presents visually
The
of the objectthe painting, all color
is driven
light?
the object
relevant information
It
only incidentally to
its true message of light, color and presence.
The
work
releasing light
of
painters
seems
to
be
concerned
at the surface of the color field.
of sculptors would then be to reveal light in mass.
of
concern
in
painting,
Indeed without
mass,
Sculpture can
if
mass.
touch, determine
Field and mass (volume)
sound.
Sound adds
Light is
hints to
Sound alone can create mass in
work without
by mass we mean a physical
object that can be hefted and moved about.
object with
The work
texture and surface collaborators
with light in revealing content.
light.
with
We
texture, broad
can also
can read the
field and even
be established with
movement with
the mind.
light and mass.
Light
alone with
mind and eye can be volume, shape and mass.
By the
beginning of
the twentieth century painters and
26
sculptors had begun to push the limits of conventional visual
representation.
Using
subject
matter
for
the most part
famaliar to themselves as well as their patrons
Monet,
Pissaro,
Van
Gogh
western traditions
and
visual
their
output
of
texture at the surface
and
other
materials
of
the
light came off the canvas.
picture
proximities that
manipulate the
plane
affected how
Van Gogh used paint straight from
strokes, compositionally
through his color maze.
of image with precisely
to
working in
Their use of color and
the tube in lush sometimes swirling
guiding the eye
painters
began
canvases.
and critics,
mixed
make the
points
Seurat's raster scan
of
color
applied in
eye and mind build new colors and
light that are not on the canvas.
A transparent canvas or.mutible block of stone would let
light into
the work
and release
fumbling
with
reflection
Duchamps
large
glass,
Bachelor, Even, is
perhaps
the
subject.2.
first
not
to
The image is
and
The
the
transformation.
Bride
Stripped
first
invite
a
the artist from constantly
a
painting
Bare
on
visitation
stylized
Marcel
chocolate
of
by
Her
glass, but
light
on
mill, drawn
16Theories
of Modern Art;
Herschel B. Chip, editor,
University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1968.
pg. 392 The bassis of my own work
during the years just
before coming to America in 1915 was a desire to break up
forms--to "decompose" them along the lines the cubists had
done.
But I wanted to go further--much further--in fact in
quite another direction altogether.
This was what resulted
in Nude Descending a Staircase, and eventually led to my
large glass, La Mariee mise a nu par ses celibataires, memef
The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even.)
27 on a
with precision
large plate
wire reinforced glass, set
hung away
from the
of
light
metal frame.
wall, allowing
both sides of the image.
mass
in a
and
structure
and
He structured work with
plastic
wire;
postulated
time.
allowed one plane to be
transparent screens of
allowed him
Gabo's
direct access to
Vasiliev's mathematical renderings of space and
"Color
is
natural tone.
illusory
Line
and
must not
is
renounced
in
volume, is
plastic form of space.'
element: strength
asserted as
Mass
and form
favor of
serve a descriptive function,
but rather, act as a delineator of forces and rhythm.
rather than
work is
the viewer free acess to
structures of light.
extensive backround in science
Einstein and
The
Naum Gabo projected planes into the
transparent.
and
now backed with
of glass,
Depth,
the only 'pictorial and
is renounced
as a sculptural
do not depend upon mass."-'
His
literary and sculptural visions of time, light and space were
transformed into
plexiglas and celluloid models.
Schlimmer's
use
of
light
in
theatre
and
dance,
especially in defining the human figure draw on the twentieth
century technology
Wilfred
spent
incandescent
a
of remotely
fired light sources.
Thomas
life
time
manipulating
filaments
onto
and into architectural spaces.
projections
of
The light movement defined the time and placement of each
Naum Gabo, Sixty Years of Constructivism; edited by
Steven A. Nash and Jorn Merkert. Prestel-Verlag, Munich,
1985. pg.25. This is a paraphase of a portion of the
Realistic Manifesto signed by Gabo and his brother Antoine
Pevsner,in 1920.
28
lobbies of major
were
realized
Carillon
with
buildings
building
termination pieces for
Visual
most ambitious works filled
Wilfred's
composition.
light
intended
Clavilux Silent
The
as
a
giant
displaying a slowly changing sonata in light.
or
luck
cruel
fate,
the
Never
light.
light sculptures intended as
sized
'skyscrapers'.
was
of
murals
light
light
organ,
Whether by bad
work most remembered from
columns of
Wilfred's era is Albert Speer's endless
light at
Nuremberg.
Any
artist
given
working,
free
material best fitted for the expressed
century has
unwilling
stuff of and results of their art.
visual work, remotely
itself.
fired
denies
and
manipulated
any
connection
construct the
color
and
the artifact of his
the outcome
This is not so very far from
Intended as a
light directed
cast recorded
fixtures.
uses, and
on film.
projected into a performance space.
projected
of the
light becomes
flourscent
between
Moholy-Nagy Light-Space Modulator.
with
critical
As reflected light drives
unmotified
of his work, the lighted space.
and reflections
be
to
work, the commercial light sources he
modify and
The twentieth
need.
Dan Flavin, defined as minimalist artist by
mid century critics, uses
Flavin
the
been a watershed of material as well as a morass
waiting to ensnare those
work in
choses
reign,
multiple
device to
at it, the shadows
The
film was then
Hirschfield-Mack's work
image
layering
translucent screens seem to forshadow holographic images.
on
29
Using
simple
apparatus
compositions
dependent
interdiction
of
on
colored
rather dignified lack of
he
composed
the
shadowing
filters.
light
sound
sources
of
His
and
and
notes indicated a
technology rather
than any attempt
to add sophistication to his light performance5,4
Lucio Fontana, an Argentine artist who has used most all
traditional media at some
startling
and
Fair
Milan
suspended
consistent
in
in
time in
1953.
the
lobby
statement
Fontana
of
time,
the
light
with light at the 31st
the metal,
ceiling
Neon
no attempt made
Taken in the context of his
piece
forshadows
the
slit
work at that
canvases but
wire and
follows well the time and space of his
Fontana effectively
aluminum
an
had
All other illumination in the
the necessary wiring.
space was removed.
ouevre, made a
the Sidercomit Pavilion.
tubes were hung through holes in
to hide
his large
stone work.
used light as if it were bronze or stone
or paint.
Flavin's work with specific
the
obligatory
technological
performance, frees Flavin to
sources of
baggage
define
his
light, removing
necessary
space
for light
with light.
The aritifact is negligible, perhaps to the Bauhaus workers
"Beyond
Modern
Sculpture;
Jack
Burnham, George
Braziller, New York, 1987. pg.290. Painting Photography Film;
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, MIT Press, Cambridge, a reprint of an
original text.
These two books
contain complimentary
The
Laszlo's and Hirschfield's work.
descriptions of
descriptions of process and image are derived from these
sources and a small book Abstract Film and.Beyond, by Malcolm
Le Grice, MIT Press, 1981, in which the author describes and
illustrates segments from Laszlo's films.
30
the
mechanisms
value.
The
of
device
their
only
projections had similiar physical
produces
the
interaction the
better.
ceiling lights?
They appear when they do
look for
the light
wall switch.
or bronze.
Do we
make note
light.
The less
of lamp cords or
not function.
We
when it fails to follow the flick of the
In art light must be much like paint or marble
Not
so much an engine of change or supernatural
representation, but a formidable
presence, palpable
strength and delineating time and space.
in its'
The physical
single
presence of
wavelength
delineated
source
space.
light is
dominates
Individual
light range from indifference
space
illuminated
most obvious when a
an
environment
reactions
to
to monochromatic
hostility.
specifically
as
a
or
Defining the
work
of
art can be
construed by some individuals as a personal insult.
Artist
working
manipulate
in
sources
light
of
light
use
two
methods.
to generate projected images.
They define or imply volume with radiant light
contemporary
work
falls
into
sophisticated
manipulating a
sun onto
computer
operated
flexible mirror
the side
sources.
All
one of these two catagories.
Programed light works, whether using laser
by
They
projectors driven
systems, an individual
reflectling the
rays of the
of a building or a light beam interrupted
by a transparent serial image (motion picture), all expect or
at least
assume that
there is a performance of a measurable
duration and an audience.
hand, tend
to be
light
of
daylight,
sources
limitations.
structures,
somewhat static.
the placement of walls
path
Light
the
within
This
the other
Ranging in subtlety from
and planes
to
on
affecting the
shadow and
positioning and manipulation of
and
exclusive
last mentioned
of
kind of
architectural
light work has
been the inspiration of my own work.
The structure
active aspect
and use
of all
of light
sculpture.
evident that light was the
driving
with mass
has been an
In my own work it was soon
force
behind
any three
a
of
rendering
dimensional
vision.
inner
personal
Translating that thought to a palpable work of art became the
structured
directing force on my work.
The
needed to stand on
merits
its
own
industrial society.
had to be drawn from
The inspiration
the
quarry
for the
work
context of
of the works structure
of
works was
the
within
The materials
light
contemporary materiel.
and is for the most part
derived from the use of powerful remotely fired light sources
in industrial, urban and highway settings.
sources
are
developed
illumination of
to
provide
large spaces.
but rudimentary sensitivity
distortion.
source is
consumes
is
efficient lamps,
in
mono-color
efficiency and
not necessarily
or
of the
visible
or spatial
terms, of a light
energy the source
light.
circumstances,
the most
output
rendition
in economic
The
least
are incandescent
efficient single wavelength or
metal
arc
luminous efficacy
generate visible
times
color
into
these
[filament] sources;
nearly
to
how much
translated
efficient, economical
Little regard is given to any
The efficiency,
determined by
Industrial light
balanced or
lamps.
[the ability
full wave
Economic
of a lamp to
luminous light] are
self exclusive, but in the reality of modern
industrial
bureacracies
(I
don't
really
know
which), metal
arc lamps with narrow band visible output have
come
fore
to
the
in
supply
houses
and
parking
lots,
expressways and city streets.
The red-orange light common to city streets is typically
-33.
the result of high
pressure sodium
arc lamps
used as broad
area luminars, whitish to blue-green light from mercury vagor
and
deep
These
orange
violet
industrial
visible
light
sources
can
low
light
Used
perceptual
environmetal visual clues.
beyond or
sodium-argon lamps.
sources are essentially narrow band
projectors.
produce
pressure
additively,
distortions of large scale
Placing short
wavelength sources
beneath long wavelength sources
color sense
into
space
out
fall
sodium light.
'seeing'
from
Over
the
these light
'tricks' the eye's
mercury
source illuminated
the surrounding envelope of long wave
the past
perceptually distinct
five years
I have
characteristics of
used these
metal arc lamps to
build structures in specific light.
The
perceptual
entering a
differences
space lit
viewed
work using
Massachusetts College
sixteen foot
stucco walls.
out from
individual
light are profound.
specific light that was the outcome of
this perceptual insight was installed
the entire room.
an
with monochromatic light from the same
individuals visual cues in full spectral
The first
by
of Art.
Twenty eight
high arched
The
in
a
gallery
at the
piece, Wave Front, used
by sixty
four feet,
with a
ceiling the room had light colored
I built a wall eight feet high and twelve feet
the south
foot wall crossing
wall of the gallery.
the
twelve
foot
I then built a six
wall
and
installed a
mercury vapor security fixture on the top of this wall at one
end and
a sodium
vapor fixture
at the
other.
An arch of
364
galvanized
steel
panels
was
wall between the metal arc
then placed against the short
luminars.
These
reflected and
diffused the light from each lamp as they mixed in the center
of the room.
vapor
One end of the room was now lit by the mercury
lamp,
the
other
by
gallery from either end,
that immediately
the
sodium lamp.
Entering the
effect was
of the light
the first
faced and surrounded you, then an awareness
that another kind or color of light hovered
the light
that defined
above and behind
the immediate space.
The other side
of the room, the oppposite entry, reversed the apparent light
and color
play.
enveloped
changed over from
altered
the
As one passed through the space, the light
perceived
one
depth
the
kind
well above
of
light,
the norm
light
the
the room.
other and
The avaliable
for open indoor space.
of
specific
characteristics,
made
change the room.
The eye even seemed
the
to
and closeness of the gallery.
There was always 'enough' light in
lumens was
source
eye
and
wavelength
But.
and
mind change the space,
to go
looking for the
missing light.
Wave Front
meant
to
was the
alter
a
first piece
perceived
or
with structured light,
experienced
space.
A
collaborative work with students from CAVS\MIT at building W11
in
1985
with
video
illumination followed.
light,
incandescent
and
candle
This work drew on the atmospherics of
light more than the physical structure of light.
In the CAVS
piece, slit apperture projectors were placed over low wattage
35
incandescent
lamps,
filaments into
the space.
rays mixed with the
image hidden
projecting
elongated
The
glow from
behind scrim,
images
of
the
radiant glow from the light
the video
screens, the video
to form pools and lines of light
on the floor and moving up into the space of the room.
These
pieces
installation at
led
to
the
first night,
first
exterior
Light Steps,
work,
an
using sodium and
mercury lamps arranged in enclusive rings.
Five
eight foot
tall galvanized steel reflectors faced out from a twenty foot
in diameter circle of fourteen foot
ten mercury
vapor lamps.
light, the
outside a
interior
ring of
high reflectors carrying
The structure became a envelope of
strong
blue-green
orange yellow
mercury
sodium light.
vapor, the
Light Steps
was a site piece meant for short duration and heavy
least 12,000
people entered
use.
At
the space and moved through the
piece in the six hours it was up and running.
Another piece, this one
and interactive
video used
with dancers,
a more
the slit apperture projectors.
a string quartet
sophisticated version of
Designed
as a
stage set for
the ballet, Refrigerator, by composer Gamma Skupinsky, it was
performed in Jordan Hall at the
Music
in
May,
1986.
New England
The projectors were driven by clear
envelope mercury and sodium lamps.
feet tall
and stood
projected
distinct
narrow band
light.
Conservatory of
Each projector
was eight
on the stage with the performers.
rays
of
blue-green
and
They
orange-yellow
These light pieces along with the video
projector
provided
throughout the
the
only
performance.
illumination
As the
the
were projected onto
of the stage and silhouettedd in complimentory (the
opposite color wavelength) toward the audience.
altered
stage
dancers passed through
each light beam their individual shadows
the back
on
the
design
and
perception
The dancers
of their space as they
passed through and interacted with the light that defined the
stage.
These works
led to
a number of commercial works, works
designed and built for direct use on a continuous basis.
works ranged
The
in size somewhat, but remained on a human scale
(no light source more than eight feet high).
were meant
All
to work interactively with ambient urban light.
Each defined
a space with the specific light source involved
in the work.
Light Line was built under a rather subdued conventional back
lit plastic sign.
Fifteen feet
high and
deep, it
one foot
long, one
and a
half feet
is driven by eight clear jacket
(unphospored) mercury vapor lamps.
The
mercury vapor light
washes a brick wall, with little spill to the side walk.
shadows in the mortar
out
by
lights.
the
joints between
extremely
powerful
As you walk by the piece,
the bricks
contrasting
wavelengths
lamps interact.
to
you see
float
emitted
Another piece is
are picked
street sodium vapor street
perceived color of the pavement and wall.
the individual bricks seem
The
by
off
a change
in the
Close to the wall,
the
wall
as the
the mercury and sodium
installed under
an awning
over a restuarants exterior windows and entry way.
wave mercury light picks out the
from the
overall sodium
contrast between
interactive
area
restuarant's space
glow of
the two
Boston night.
light sources
changes
The short
and
then
or site
Again, the
and the overlapping
picks
out
aspects of
personal perception in space.
I have continued to refine and manipulate both temporary
and permanent
site installations
have also begun to
light sources.
images on
of
The
emmitted
bright
illumination.
a
to alter
the quality
small quartz-halogen incandescent
point
filament
to
built
give
fixtures
directly below
film substrate.
the
the
apparent
in
such
image, that
or projected light).
the spectral
illuminated
the
mix of
color of the holographic
The
works were arranged
a way that each hologram revealed
itself as the other fell out
first order
that
Because of the low incident angle and bright
source,
gallery
near full wave visible
the sculpture that caried the
image changed as you approached it.
(the observer was so far off the
there no longer was a visible image
The hologram literaly bent and altered
a portion
of the quartz lamp, altering
the light level and the characteristics
room.
between the
these pieces used holographic
film substrate
by
I
holograms from
in
divisions
I
Quartz-halogen lamps depend on a high temperature and
extremely
near
physical
first of
llxl4 acetate
light
lamp.
inclued
through my time at MIT.
of the
light in the
38
A severe
limitation of
holograms is the instability of
the images as well as the inability of the substrate material
to
survive
pollution.
effect
in
the
open
air,
inclement
weather
or
air
In an attempt to at least use some portion of the
that
the
selectively
hologram
refracting
experimenting with
working with a
lenses and
has
light (as a wave guide,
specific
a number
number
on
of
wavelengths)
of different
plastics,
diffraction screens,
I
began
materials.
After
notably
large fresnel
I rejected plastics for the
same reason I had originally found holograms wanting; lack of
durability.
This led to experimentation with different sorts
of fabrics.
The material has to be somewhat durable
as
translucent,
reflecting
some light and transmitting the
rest.
A true test of the material
in
setting
a
with
as well
ambient
would be
an installation
light opposite of the intended
driven or chosen light source.
These criteria
then began to
define my thesis project.
After wandering
around campus for a while, I settled on
the front of building W-11.
street lights
There were
surrounding the
site, leaving the area of the
installation in relative shadow.
a
basement
stairway
vapor
street
luminar.
letting
it
out
a
400 watt
The
fabric, seems to trap the
building,
A dark low
provided
contrasting light source, a
strong sodium vapor
scrim,
mercury
above
wall protecting
logical
place
for
a
clear jacketed mercury
a
vapor
silver translucent
light
against the
and below the line of the
fabric.
The long wave sodium light reflects
off the metalic
sheen of the plane of the fabric and seems to hang in the air
0
intependent of the surroundings.
wind interact
with the
of the building.
maintaining
the sun and
fabric, altering the apparent facade
The
its
During the day
mercury
presence
in
lamp
runs
day
and night,
shadow, even working with the
rain during the day.
With simple and very
one
light
source,
a
powerful
and the
addition of
the apparent structure and presence of the
building is changed.
has
direct means
Interactive light from specific sources
and
direct
effect
on mass and form.
pesence of this work is defined by the ambient light
direct
interaction
with
The screen
acts as
the
effect
it were.
of
as
and its
another and complimentory specific
light source.
plane
The
a point
of interaction,
The piece works because
there is no obvious light source, just what appears to there,
part of the immediate environment.
I think of this work as a point of departure.
the end of a series of
but a
experiments in
It is not
perception and light,
begining of works that define the plane of interaction
of specific kinds of light.
This piece is the
two lights and a moment in time.
cleft between
40
APPENDIX
Text of thesis project
Illustrations
Developmental drawings for thesis project
in order of development of concept.
a) preliminary site concept
b) further work
c) final form of work
Drawings for other projects
d) preliminary
drawing for Clear
Rays
e) ground plan for Clear Lights
Electrostatic copies of photographs
a) Wave Front
b) Stage set for ballet
"Refrigerator"
c) Clear Lights
4t
THESIS PROJECT
I believe the point of this project should be to produce
an integrated work of art rather than a
My
time
at
the
Center
demonstration piece.
has been spent, for the most part,
involved with resolving questions of integration
material
in
specific
works
of
art.
I have sharpened my
awareness of techniques more than introduced
work.
With this
in mind
the piece
number of apparently disparate
juxtiposition with
new ones
to my
I envision would use a
materials
and
techniques in
a specific site, to produce a unique work
of art that delimits
other words
of form and
I will
it self
and transforms
use the
play of
its site.
light and
In
shadow in a
situation given over to the production of a work of art.
I have two sites in mind.
site.Site two
Site
is the Center garden.
one is
the solar house
The solar house site is
isolated off the main campus near the athletic
field.
There
is little free space avaliable around the site and control of
ambient light is minimal.
a challenge
than threat
These restrictions present more of
to the
proposed work,
but lack of
security at the site and next to no interest and support from
the
people
involved
logistical questions
with
do
the
point
solar
up
house
coupled
with
negative considerations.
The Center garden has next to no ambient light and a very
real lack of space, but it is a relatively secure site.
Logistical problems are minimal and the nature of the
42.
building presents some compositional challenges.
However by contrast to the solar house site, where almost
anything one does would either go unnoticed or be at most
unwelcome, the Center garden site presents real potential for
disaster.
The unique
design of the Center building and its
relative isolation from the campus imply that anything done
to the exterior of the building will accentuate the orphan
like vulnerability of the structure.
When I lit the exterior
of the Center for the 20th Anniversary I became aware of some
of the characteristics of the building that make
it difficult
if not impossible to "apply" a work of art .
The somber color, while not menacing nor
institutional
in character as other small campus buildings are (the
barracks or the old psychology office),
unifies the building
and presents arelatively impenetrable facade.
avaliable is either the stairway
small garden
Center
the
basement
or the
area just to the left of the stairs as you face
the Amherst Street facade'.
the
from
The only niche
garden.
I
This
is the
area I
have named
am going to begin documenting both
sites (the solar house and the
Center garden)
this week and
plan to do some preliminary work on both sites.
But the site
which I think presents the greatest
challenge is
site and
like to present my work.
it is there where I would
The nature of my thesis work
the same
since I
limestone column
has remained substantially
began this document.
beginning to take form.
the Center
The actualization is
The original work would have added a
to one side of the grate in the garden area
and a steel mesh
side.
column of
These veritical
similar proportion
elements would
have played off each
other through the day in shadow and mass.
mercury
vapor
lamp
at
the
contrast sharply with the
Mass. Ave.
changes.
poplar
Now, I
base
ambient
In
sodium
vapor
Idaho;
light from
have decided on two rather significant
significant
with southwest
the evening a
of the mesh column would
One, replace the mesh column with
tree,
to the other
to
two,
a young Lombardi
me because of its association
bring
the
back
wall visually
forward by installing an angle iron frame, painted gray, even
with the short wall surrounding the stair.
panels in
the frame.
The
Then insert mesh
frame and panels would not go to
the sidewalk.
They would stop
mercury vapor
lamp would
at
the
wall
remain, now
The
illuminating the tree
and the mesh, providing a kind of shimmering
people drove by.
heighth.
light shield as
The incidental interference of the long and
short wave radiation of the mercury
and sodium
light on the
mesh (wire lathe, because it has a reflective metallic finish
and
dimensionality) sets
The
tanbark
will
gravel, and I would
be
up an
removed
illusion of
or
re-install the
floating mass.
covered over with washed
center neon
sign in the
office window.
over the past several weeks I have performed a number of
experiments with my usual
vapor
lamps.
I
placed
light sources,
a
number
lengths and widths of the wire
light
catcher
(galvanized
mercury and sodium
of panels of different
screen I
propose using
as a
steel lathing, a common building
product) at varying distances
the conditions
on the
from
the
sources, simulating
front of the Center Building.
On the
installation at the center, the mercury lamp will be over the
basement
stair,
motorist.
the
below
street
sight line to passers by and
The opposing sodium light
evening
and
night.
sources are
From these investigations, I have
come to the conclusion that the most dramatic
space both
strips,
day and
ambient to
night come
effects on the
from using mesh in long thin
hanging in a line above the curb between the sidewalk
and the
garden area.
They
would be suspended from a steel
bar even with the top of the stucco wall(about ten
the ground),
each would
feet from
be approximately five feet long.
will need to adjust the absolute heighth on the site.
have found
I
What I
with experimentation is that the long thin strips
of wire mesh move with the wind, even from people walking by,
changing
shadow
and
reflection
altering perception of mass.
controled
by
a
on
the
wall
The mercury vapor
photo-electric
as
well as
lamp will be
device adjusted to turn the
light on at dusk, reversing the normal darkening of the stair
well at
night.
I believe
these alterations of my original
proposal for this piece incorporates
concepts,i.e.,
the
light sources, the
shadow and
juxtaposition
establishment
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and natural light
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mass
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my basic
wave length
volume with
and alteration of time
passive
and environmentally
based control of an artificial light source.
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