Thomas Wilfred is a pivotal figure in the history of luminous art for his contributions through LUMIA, one of the most influential pieces of artwork throughout the 20th century, most specifically the 1920s. With its origins transcending decades, Wilfred’s work has and is still capable of influencing hundreds of artists, engineers, and scientists in combining their skills to create visual art. As described by Keely Orgeman in her in-depth bibliography of the artistic entrepreneur in A Radiant Manifestation in Space: Wilfred, Lumia, and Light, Wilfred had expressed since his childhood, a passion for light as well as prisms. He was obsessed with the desire of avant-garde artistic creation and felt the need to continue his legacy by working day and night to achieve critical acceptance, recognition, and success. With his hard work, he created and perfected the CLAVILUX at his shared studio with The Prometheans, a cutting-edge device at the time. It was used by Wilfred to create and project abstract imagery he coined as, Lumia. With the CLAVILUX, Wilfred toured both the country and the world, bringing people a newfound sense of art that combines movement, color, and light.
With this self-proclaimed, “8th Fine Art” of the world, Thomas Wilfred perceived movement as one of the most significant factors found in each luminous piece. As claimed by Wilfred, in any form of light art, “motion is a necessary dimension” (Orgeman 21) for it provides a means of introducing and showcasing to viewers the true nature of light. Wilfred found it crucial that this “force of energy that travels constantly through space” (Orgeman 21) be implemented into his work by providing the basis for it. This reality was achieved through the CLAVILUX with modern equivalents of “lightbulbs, motors, color records and reflective materials (Orgeman 34).
It is interesting and intriguing to learn of Thomas Wilfred’s history and upcoming as an artist in the 20th century. The portion that stood out to me the most was the claim of Wilfred is one of the pioneers in combining the likes of art and science for creation/invention. Throughout the video it is mentioned that while being an artist, Wilfred was often compared to that of a scientist. His studio would resemble more of an inventor’s workshop as well as a scientist’s laboratory than it did a traditional artist’s studio. He would ultimately demonstrate this deep understanding of both the arts and the sciences through the CLAVILUX, for his “precise light-bending technique [would often mimic] that of physicists’ laboratory experiments” (Orgeman 34). Along with his many versions of the CLAVILUX and his story, Wilfred inspired many individuals such as Katherine Dreier, engineer Charles Dockum, piano prodigy Mary Hallock-Greenewalt and many more. Wilfred’s belief in the achievement of spiritual liberation through art was, however, not as pertained throughout the generations. It is evident today, that this sense of spiritual understanding is neglected within modern artists. Nonetheless, the works of Thomas Wilfred had opened doors to the now seemingly limitless range that art is capable of reaching, which ultimately includes the art of light.