Entry 53

I was looking at the reflective part of a television and notice that the colors of the items it reflected were incredibly close to the original. At first I even thought they were no different from a mirror then I looked blacked and noticed the very obvious difference between the two. The black TV's reflection were noticeably darker, but my mind really wasn't reading them as such until I compared them to the original item. Is this an example of color fatigue? Had my mind instinctively read the dark colors as neutral? I wonder how those reflections would compare to ones from a highly reflective white, or red surface. Could those surfaces even be able to reflect objects?

Entry 52

 Leonardo Drew's Number 47

 image taken from: http://www.leonardodrew.com/drew%20site-Pages/Image31.html

Leonardo is an instillation artist whom has chosen to add human subjects to his composition. Whether he designed the lighting himself or with the aid of another lighting designer, the piece Number 47 is a wonderful example of a unique use of contrast. Contrast with light is often about either the differences in a harsh bold light and the hard bold shadows it creates, or it is about the contrasting colors of the lights. This scene is a mix of the two the sharp contrast is created by the bright yellow light and the dark black areas it is unable to illuminate. Non of the actors on stage cast dark shadows, but their black clothing does reflect of the stages surface to ground the actors in a similar fashion to the shadow. The light in the background creates contrast by illuminating a section of highly reflective objects and keeping the other areas of the stage cast in darkness. This helps the illuminated wall of items push out and create a background, middle-ground, and foreground. 

Entry 51

 Kimsooja's To Breathe—A Mirror Woman

 image taken from: http://www.pbs.org/art21/images/kimsooja/to-breathe%E2%80%94a-mirror-woman-2006?slideshow=1

Mirrors are amazing. I kept trying to write about this photo and for the longest time was never able to really say what I love about it. I think it all begins with just how efficient the artist uses the light and reflections. Looking at the sky you can see the scene atmosphere is rather overcast. There certainly isn't any sun. But despite this the whole area is fully illuminated with little to no shadows. Visibility doesn't always require an extra source of light, just a smart designer.

Entry 50

Janine Antoni's Saddle

 image taken from: http://www.pbs.org/art21/images/janine-antoni/saddle-2000?slideshow=1

"I think the startling thing for me was that I made a ghost of myself. When I’m with the piece I feel the absence, both of my body and the cow. It wasn’t necessarily something I intended for the piece, to be so ghostlike. It’s transparent...there’s nothing underneath, although the shape so articulates the figure. It’s a kind of push-pull that you feel, of such a presence of the figure. For me, the shocking thing was to realize that I’ve made a piece about the death of the cow, my own death."
- Janine Antoni

I often write about how light helps us place an object in a scene or how it helps give an object or scene a style and mood. Janine Antoni's Saddle is a perfect example of how light helps us tell how thick and object is and how much weight it has. Despite depicting a crouching full grown-human being this piece feels incredibly light, even without knowing what material it is made out of, the sculpture appears as though it could easily be toppled. This is because, as Antoni states, we can perceive the absence of a body due to the material's transparency. The light pacing through the object tells us that there isn't anything underneath the cloth, it is the light which gives Saddle its ghostlike appearance.

Entry 49

Ellen Gallagher's "Monster", from the suite of five 16mm films, "Murmur"

 image taken from: http://www.pbs.org/art21/images/ellen-gallagher/monster-from-the-suite-of-five-16mm-films-murmur-2003?slideshow=1

I'm not sure what the theme of the suite of five 16mm films this piece was from were about but I'm guessing they were out of this world. "Monster", from the suite of five 16mm films, "Murmur" is a really bizarre piece that seems to have turned a human being into a living lightbulb. This creation is so special as it's an oddity you just don't see, an object that is reflecting and giving off its own light. The face still has shadows and has been dyed blue by the light in the environment and yet there is a strange halo of yellow bulbs emitting rays of pure white light in several directions. The whole piece in incredibly bright but it's still able to create contrast by using monotone shades blue and really darkening the shadows on the face.

Entry 48

So last week I got to sit in on  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee technical rehearsal. I was there to observe how a lighting designer and director work during an actual production. The cast and crew were all present and they would run through scenes over and over again. There were already plenty of lights hung in place and the overall look of the show seemed complete. The rehearsal was mainly a way for the actors and various directors to see what a the final production would look and feel like. So, you had actors learning where to stand and how to move in order to remain properly illuminated a the lighting designer making small adjustments to really capture the look they wanted. Often the actors would have to completely change their stage directions and actions and the director and designer used the time to try out new tricks.