Thomas Wilfred is a Danish-born artist who is the pioneer in light art and invented the term lumia. He was trained in painting and sculpture prior to his pursuit of light as an art form. Inspired by the French Jesuit philosopher and mathematician Louis-Bertrand Castel’s light-projection instrument clavecin oculaire, Wilfred used lightbulbs, reflective aluminum or mirrors, and translucent glass with added color to develop Clavilux, which was invented for pure aesthetic experience without any complementary sound accompaniment (23). Later on, he designed the Clavilux Junoir which serves a dual purpose of creating lumia compositions as well as a modern household decorative object. There is a half-dozen “opuses” on the instrument and each one corresponds to a hand-painted “color record,” the operator is also able to turn the knobs to modify the “tempo of movements, intensity of color and levels of brightness and darkness” in a dark space (24).
Such unique light art compositions Wilfred created are meant solely for the silent experience. He believed that “no physical or psychological correspondences between music and color could be scientifically proven and that Lumia therefore did not belong under the umbrella of ‘color music'” (23). Instead, Wilfred seeks for the “primitive visual experience,” referring to humans’ ability to “perceive luminous forms and movements under natural circumstances” (27). I think this is also why I was reminded of the aurora, changing in palette and pattern, fading in and out in the night sky when experiencing his beautiful work. Another crucial factor that makes his work so naturalistic, immersive and psychologically pleasing is that he drew on new ideas of interstellar space, approaching light art both scientifically and philosophically. His belief of light being the foundation of human existence is implied through his spiritual and “intelligent” interpretation of the cosmos, as is presented in his artwork.
Reference
Keely Orgeman, A Radiant Manifestation in Space (Yale University Press, 2017).