Light in essence is another form of paints, objects(media) are paint brushes in different shapes, and similarly, the space is another form of canvas. With the same paints(light), different shape of paint brushes(objects/materials) can modify the pattern on the canvas(space).
In Light as Sculpture, Moholy’s feeling was: “Light, if rendered into art, must first be transmitted and transformed through materials — not projected directly at the viewer.” In Phenomenal, Helen Pashgian’s resin spheres show vitality in direct light, but appear calm in indirect light. Just like what Moholy argues, the light itself was just a source or a material. It only shows its artistic, magical effect only through the resin balls.
Phenomenology sciense is asking people to perceive the world from their own perspective. The world is not an objective space but develop from ones’s own view.
This is an artwork by artist Laszlo Moholy. He uses light to transform the shape of the square scaffold to a circle shadow on the wall. People sees different effects from different materials, different angle or different time…etc. Light art is not like paintings — paintings are unchangeble when they are done by artists, but light art are changing all the time, depends on the time when the visitor sees it.
In The Weather Project, there was a fake sun made by a semicircle reflected by a mirror. Besides, the ceiling is also reflecting the ground. The space is twice its original size since everything has been reflected by mirror. In this case, it’s hard to tell which is true or which is fake. But instead of thinking so much about what is true and what is false, how about starting from the phenomenon itself and focusing only on what you see.
The phenomenon, or in simpler terms, the visual perception of art can be significantly influenced by factors such as positioning and weather conditions. Additionally, some artists create “site-conditioned works” which achieve their expected impact when specific conditions are met. Therefore, based on the readings, I believe that light art itself is diverse with possibilities. Manipulating different conditions may result in distinct effects.
