The World Of Light
An everlasting discourse
Everything you see is an extraction from the unseen. Forms may be revised, yet the philosophy remains unchanged. Every astonishing revelation will eventually evaporate; every word will weaken and become forgotten. Do not be disheartened though, the foundation from which they are derived is timeless, emergent, reaching out and applying newborn life and new contentment. This resource is within you and this entire world is developing because of it.
Liken this to a beautiful and inspiring sunset. One watches as the shapes of clouds change, the myriad of colours evolve and metamorphose. This will soon disappear and be gone into the night. Tomorrow is a new day but the sunset will not be the same. No sunset will ever be the same. But we will still have a sunset.
Whilst I was studying art history in the 1970’s I had a visual language to embark on. I was always flabbergasted by the idea that what images represent depends partly because of one’s analysis of the world. My thoughts were instantaneously given to perceptions of actuality, which in fact had started, well before my investigations into the world of light.
These inner dialogues have changed considerably throughout the years, as my perceptions have altered and evolved. I'm recurrently fascinated with exploring new directions in my work, and in the long-term research of colour, light and form and all things relevant, the connection between the seen and the unseen and how we translate this using symbolic practices.
Graham J McLusky
Theatre & Architectural Lighting Designer
7 comments:
Light has fascinated me for years. Theatrical Lighting has been a passion. To be able to recreate the very essence of natural light, sunset, daylight, artificial light is something quite special. To help your audience believe that this is in any way a reality is even more special.
An audience's perception of "natural" light as part of a theatre presentation is quite "open minded" if you see what I mean. You would adapt your natural light to the mood and genre of the production. A sunset through a window during a thriller could be quite deep and orange in colour to enhance the feeling of the moment, yet a comedy may require something a lot lighter and golden. Moonlight is another clear example of using theatrical license to suit the production. Moonlight is not deep blue, yet it is depicted as such in some plays. Conversely it becomes a grey, pale blueish hue in another style of production. I spend a lot of time choosing to experiment with "natural", light. There will always be a different way of doing it.
Graham McLusky pointed out that he studied the effects of light from an early age, natural light being the most complex perhaps. I too am facinated with this natural phenomenon and perceive different ways of approaching this sensitive subject for each show I light. I tend to use very pale colours and mix them carefully to represent all the reflected colours of the natural surroundings. The key is one of the most important elements and this has to be dealt with in a very sensitive manner.
Natural light is in itself a fabulous phenomena... so much so that is has inspired lighting design practicioners to aim to recreate it artificially... somtimes with great success. I have managed to create some quite acceptable effects with simple filmic methods.
Natural light is one of my favourites. It changes continuously and never fails to amaze. Personally I find that by creating something closely resembling natural light on stage, is often not enough. It is what the audience perceives is right for them is the important factor.
As natural light qualities alter every minute of the day, it only goes to say that one should be aware of this and endeavour to work this phenomena sensitively into your plot. It should also be carefully adjusted to keep within the bounds of the requirements of the play, shifting and changing colour and angle.
Hey there, doing an assignment and need to know how it is that I can get into the world of lighting and what training is required. Is it a mixture of experience and a tertiary qualification or can you just make it with experience only or just quals only?
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