light series 3

silence and darkness

chicago skyline from lake michigan, august 2007

when considering light, darkness is also considered, however consciously or unconsciously, because one does not exist without the other. in fact, darkness is only perceived as such in relation to light. it is a fact that hardly anyone ever really experiences pure darkness on earth unless deep within its crust. there is no true black. there is always some light, however faint, that makes us perceive something as black in relation to something lighter. therefore, "darkness" implies an absolute that hardly really exists. another word, silence, implies an absolute that also does not really exist, and though darkness and silence relate to two different human senses, both refer to an unreachable extreme. they are often used interchangeably in literature to emphasize feelings presented by emptiness. i would like to argue that both silence and darkness can be expressions of rich quality that can overwhelm us just as much as can light and noise. the difference is the elegance of subtlety that darkness and silence offer the imagination. light and noise focus attention leaving little choice, but darkness and silence intrigue mystery that suggests endless possibilities.

light series 2a : retail space +

earlier this month i had the wonderful opportunity to spend an evening at the Herman Miller, Inc. National Design Center in Atlanta. this space operates as a work space, a conference center, and a retail space. it is a lighting wonderland. the HMI NDC is located inside of a beautifully revamped warehouse, which benefits from an enormous amount of sunlight. i imagine that this creates a pleasant working environment but that the lighting displays suffer during the day.

one of the interesting aspects of the lighting design here is that much of the light actually comes from pieces being shown by the company. since Herman Miller is a furniture company, many of the items that they sell are lamps and other light fixtures. the lighting that comes from other sources must be designed so not to interfere with the light of the luminares on display. though we were there after the sun had set, i can see that the sawtooth clerestory and large wall windows must pose a problem during the day.

another clever design @ HMI was the use of light to create a "scene". a photograph to the right shows a contemporary dining room that they have created using only Herman Miller products. there are hypothetical office spaces that use the same strategy, creating an entire environment without help from other products. these office spaces are set up in a way that alleviates some daylight with half-walls so that the lighting fixtures can show their capabilities.

realization:enlightenment

"In every thing that nature makes, nature records how it was made. In the rock is a record of how the rock was made. In man is the record of how man was made. When we are conscious of this, we have a sense of the laws of the universe." - Lobell, Between Silence and Light

imprinted upon the earth is what man has made. in a toy is the record of how the toy was made. in a house is a record of how the house was made. in a city is the record of how the city was made. when we become conscious that these man-made records will last far less time than the records earth has made herself, we have a sense of the laws of the universe.

i have chosen to share the following pictures for several reasons. the first picture is one i took in alaska in the summer of 2004 of a small colony of lichen growing beside a mountain stream. i love this picture for its purity of color created by the intensity of the july sun at mid-day at a very high latitude. also, i had never seen these tundra species, and this photo reminds me how i felt like i was on another planet when i was in alaska. of course, that experience just made me love this planet even more. the aspect of the picture i would like to focus on, however, is the pattern of growth the lichen has taken. now look at the similarities with the second photograph. the white cloud sweeping and growing across the earth is a satellite image of aurora borealis. natures patterns of growth can be found in the smallest and largest of places. if i included an image of an entire galaxy, the growth patterns would also be similar to the lichen and the northern lights.

my point is this. those patterns and miracles have been happening on earth for eons, much much longer than any living species on earth today, and they will continue long after the city lights seen in the second photograph have burned out. i do believe that nature will take its course. we humans have become like a bacterial infection that continues to spread and poison the earth. compare the city lights in photo 2 to the bacterial growth in photo three. what happens when we get sick? we get a fever that helps kill off bad bacteria. do you think that global warming could be the earth's fever? i do. do you think that if we can begin to behave ourselves that earth will allow us to stay a little longer? it is the only chance we have.

photos 2 & 3 courtesy of: http://veimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/16625/aurora_NA_lrg.jpg, http://www.seriousnerd.com/portfolio/demos/flash/bacteria-growth.png

light series 1a

for this lighting series i decided to study the studio space because i think it is fun to note how the overall energy of of the space changes throughout each semester. i've never thought about what role light plays in that evolution, but i imagine that it does play quite a role and is worth observing. first of all, we are very fortunate to have a studio space that is so dominantly naturally lit. of course, that can become burdensome during some design projects, especially those centred around light; but it makes for a much healthier feeling work space. anyone who has worked here both day and night can attest to the very different kinds of energy in the studio at night, when it is bright and fluorescent, and during the day. because the space is so influenced by sunlight, and the position of the sun plays such an integral part in defining the energy of each season, i believe that over the next two months we will see a correlation between the energy of the sun and the energy of the space.

the photographs here were taken over the last month. i wish i had 4 photos instead of 3, but i missed a week. they were all taken around 3pm because the windows on the left face the west, and i wanted to capture the shadows from a semi-direct sun (after noon and before dusk seemed to offer the most contrast). as you can see, the space and the sun have both changed dramatically over the last month. of course, much of the change in energy is do to the semester's work/project load escalating to full gale. in fact, i do not see much in the way of observing the effects of the sun except that its pattern is changing. the spot so clear on the floor in january has now vanished. i will continue to document and observe this space in this way, and there will be one day that i take photos all day long at regular intervals. it will be interesting to see if there is a time of day that is just like another time of day but at a different time of year.

the wonder of experimentation

these photos represent different phases of light experimentation within a very confined space (approx. 12" x 8" x 18"). after much diliberation over how many lights, what kind of light, and what king of filter, we decided to go with one light source that emits three different effects. one of the effects is a backlight created by cutting a hole in the back of the form. the light is inside the form and creates a backlight for by reflecting off of the wall behind it and, therefore, creating contrast between the form and it's surroundings. the second effect is a defined color wash created by using a color lense and styrene below the light source with very sharply cut edges the thrird effect is a hard shadow cast on the right wall by a shape positioned close to the light source. one of the successes of the project is that we did not everwhelm the small space eventhough we were able to show 3 effects. also, the volume of the form is only seen through the shadow cast on the right wall because of careful placement. and finally, the light is only experienced through the effects, not directly. subsequently there are "ah ha" moments that are delightful.

early experimentation

inside of box w/out effects

w/ effects

touch and sight

The sense of sight is the most obvious sense to consider when it comes to light, but light is just as important to our sense of touch. here, looking at a photograph, which is primarily a visual media, we can feel the warmth of the sunny spot on the floor. this has much to do with associative memory and is part of our animal nature. certain types of light instill a feeling. the feeling depicted here is comfort. our visual proof is buster. He sees it, feels it, and... takes it.