Light | conceptual explorations of fluidity, Mutability, Rhythm
Studying, testing, discovering light through models
Work by Theodorson + Students
Light, Like Water IDEC CREATIVE SCHOLARSHIP 2013 | Judy Theodorson | 1st Place Award
Light, like water, is transparent and fluid: light fills and falls and flows and floods; it trickles and dribbles and seeps and leaks; it puddles, it pools; it is watery, inky, milky. These metaphors are rich and abundant in literary narrative, providing substantive description to an otherwise intangible substance. Light itself is not visible until it enters into reciprocal relationships with physical material. In other words, light reveals while being revealed. We simultaneously see the light, the space, the forms. And more. From the union of light and material, there emerges potent architectural ambiances: atmospheres, moods, markings of time, stirring of memories, suggestions of meaning. It is a paradox that light is invisible yet responsible for all visualization. As such, we have limited means to conceptualize and create with light. Therein lies the issue of this project: the extension of design vocabularies around light. Specifically, this project presents a conceptual poetic that explores the analogous relationship between light and water by coalescing verbal, constructed, and visual vocabularies.
Verbal vocabularies consist of singular words and narrative passages culled from a variety of sources including fiction, travel literature, poetry and memoir. The writings use water as a metaphor for light’s behaviors and characteristics, describing interior or environmental conditions from the perspective of human observation and experience.
Constructed vocabularies are developed with a limited palette: three dimensional spaces, textures, and filters configured into vignette models to capture and manipulate natural light. The vignettes are not representations of a specific literary narrative. Rather, they are the result of a process that was intentionally exploratory and informative in the pursuit of the fluid and ephemeral nature of the medium.
Visual vocabularies employs black and white photography to record the luminescent moments captured by the model vignettes. The processes of modeling and photography were mutually reinforcing as discoveries emerged and vision was sharpened. The images expose patterns of luminescence and begin to codify visual metaphors of light and water.
The merging of allied perspectives -- literature, design and photography -- begets a fuller and more expressive understanding of the subjective, qualitative and performance aspects of light. This type of conceptual poetic serves to develop and inspire design language, through methods and applications consistent with design processes. In conclusion: Describe light, make light, see light.