When I first appreciated the Lumia artworks made by Wilfred demonstrated in the documentary LUMIA, I got a sense of vast, unrestricted but still a sense of gloomy depths. I think it might be the contrast and fusion between translucent color and black screen that gave me a special aesthetic experience and inspired my imagination. It seems that the translucent suspends in the black screen quite optionally. However, the article “LUMIA, Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light” tells how serious and rigorous the Lumia is. Wilfred created Lumia basically through the equipment with lightbulbs, motors, color records, and reflection materials. Only through the thousands of subtle adjustments of mirrors and bulbs can finally achieve the expected certain visual effects. Also, lying behind the Lumia is not the mere imagination, Wilfred combined his art with the scientific area, especially he takes the optical theory of Einstein into consideration and turn it into the splendid and brilliant Lumia artworks. It was a great progress in the area of visual arts as it collapses distinctions between science and art, suggesting that Lumia participates in an interdisciplinary exploration of space and time, as opposed to merely simulating am otherworldly drama.
But at his time, the Lumia did not gain much popularity and attention from the public. According to the documentary, Wilfred had a strong desire to be understood by others and to achieve success. The development of Lumia was full of obstacles. His friends have left the “Prometheans” which they developed together because both of them cannot totally understand Lumia’s methods of working with light. Also, in the documentary, it mentioned that Wilfred traveled around the world to demonstrate his artworks and concepts in order to achieve success. Although the path of Wilfred was not smooth and there were not too many people can tell his name, he still influenced a large number of artists and created the new art form. In this sense, he has already achieved remarkable success.
Reference
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XmloIHqKOjDb4h7FVCn3OvRs6NhV15c3/view