RAPS | Reading Response 4 – Lumia | Yutong Lin

I think the conception and mechanical sophistication of Lumia really bring to life the philosophy of Thomas Wilfred. During the time, when “the most forward-thinking painters still used such traditional materials as oil, watercolor, and tempera, Wilfred was devising a mechanical technique akin to painting with the rays of an electric lightbulb.” However, it is more than a “light painting” nor a series of “light paintings.” But an experience, which he considers as a medium that speaks about personal, spiritual and also ritualistic experience. Keely Orgeman interprets it as “primitive visual experience,” which can be traced back to the discourse of Plato’s cave, the origin of western philosophy of sensory experience in relation to human intelligence, where Plato uses an analogy that humans only see the reflection from a wall in a cave, and thinks that’s the real world.  

For me, Lumia really opens up the discussion of what is autonomous, what’s programmed, what’s mechanical, what’s artistic in the form of light art. The kinetic, ever-changing, non-repetitive visuals of Lumia has a life of its own, that doesn’t belong to Thomas or anyone. To Thomas or the viewers who can truly appreciate the art of Lumia, it is a privilege to witness the liveliness of a unique art form.  

Works cited:

Keely Orgeman, A Radiant Manifestation in Space (Yale University Press, 2017).

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