Entry 23

The light from a lamp when shown on a wall creates a positive and negative parabola that hovers just a couple of inches from the top and bottom of the lamp shade. In fact the light seems to come in layers there is a dark shadow near the ends of the shade where it is thickest, then there is a soft fill light which is the maximum amount of light that can penetrate the shade, and then there is the bright parabolas. Also the light in the parabolas varies in intensity, the edges of the parabolas are very bright and sharp but the centers are much softer.

Entry 22

While I am uncertain if this counts as an observation of light it is an observation I made only because I have been studying light. You see I read in one of my books that the human eye can only focus on objects 8 inches from it so I wanted to give it a try. I put my fingers right at the bridge of my nose and tried for a good four minutes to focus my eyes on my fingers. Alas, no matter how much I tried I couldn't focus my eyes. Try it yourself and see what happens.

Entry 21

 Kara Walker's  8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America

 image taken from: http://learn.walkerart.org/karawalker/Main/Narrative

Let's talk about shadows. Shadows are an essential component in lighting a scene and if a designer wishes they can be the key component. A shadow in many ways is little more than a silhouette of an object placed on the floor but artist have the ability of taking that silhouette and moving from the floor to center stage. Kara Walker is an artist who's entire area of expertise is about manipulating silhouettes and shadows. She chooses to flatten all of the objects in her pieces because the issues she deals with, racism, sex, violence, and misogyny, are often too graphic when presented using a fully revealed human body. Shadows offer discretion, often a film may show the shadows of two people abusing each other instead of the actors performing it in order to show what is happening and still be able to  stay within a certain age-rating, and because of this a scene cast in darkness can reveal far more truths than a well lit scene. Take for example this piece 8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America which hints at the sexual violence and exploitation of young black women under slavery. How would this piece change if we could see the forms and faces of the two figures? Would it be more powerful if we could see the sorrow and desperation on the girl's face or do our imaginations create a far bleaker picture than reality could create.

Entry 20

There are little things about light which everyone knows about but don't really consider. Light reflects off all surfaces to varying degrees. We all know more light reflects off white walls than off black but when was the last time you really compared the two. The walls of my room are a simple shade of white and because of that I almost never have to turn on the lights. There is only one window light can enter from and yet even with the blinds close there is more than enough light for me to work in. What's more, all the surfaces in the room are more or less equally lit from floor to ceiling. How does a light coming in from above reach the ceiling of my room? What are the mathematics behind it? When writing lighting programs how did early developers program virtual light to do this? What does the spread of a light representing the sun say about the environment's conditions.

Entry 19

 Snapshot of Carte Blanche's Killer Pig, Staged at Jacob's Pillow

 image taken from: http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance/carte-blanche?ref=artist&refcar=/artist/c-d

Another snapshot courtesy of the wonderful people from Jacob's Pillow. This time featuring the rather bizarre dance styles of Carte Blanche and their almost alien performance Killer Pig. Watching Carte Blanche perform is one of the eeriest things I have every experienced since everything about them, their movements, costumes, and lighting design, seems so unnatural. In Killer Pig a top light is used to cast shadows on the performers face. This causes certain areas like the dancer's eyes to appear sunken and small. This light also uses an uncanny amount of yellow to make the dancer's skin seem waxen and unhealthy. As unsettling as all this is; however, I can't help but love how Carte Blanch uses reflective light. The polished stage creates the illusion that they are walking on water.

Entry 18

 (L) Tintoretto's Susanna and the Elders

 image taken from: http://www.artbible.info/art/large/354.html

(R) Artemisia Gentileschi's Susanna and the Elders

 image taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Susanna_and_the_Elders_%281610%29,_Artemisia_Gentileschi.jpg

So I've found two new pieces I want to compare and contrast as I feel they illustrate how lighting decisions can help or hurt the telling of a narrative. Up for discussion are two paintings that tell the story of the biblical figure Susanna. Susanna was a virtuous woman and loving wife who was wrongfully accused of adultery by two lecherous old men. One day, after sending her attendants away, Susanna goes to her garden to bath. Unbeknownst to her, two lustful elders secretly spy on her while she washes herself. These two men later approach her saying that unless she has sex with them, they will use their influence to convince everyone that she does not go to the garden to bath but to meet a young man. She refuses and the elders have her arrested for her alleged promiscuity. Her life is saved by a young man named Daniel who reveals several inconsistencies in their testimony. The two false accusers are put to death and Susanna is set free.There are many different paintings depicting this story, the pieces I am comparing are by artists Tintoretto and Artemisia Gentileschi.

Tintoretto's piece is a very clear depiction of the voyeuristic act being committed. We are treated to the image of a nude Susanna bathing with an old man peaking in from the corner. The painting puts Susanna on full display, in fact this piece almost seems to want to put its audience in the shoes of the elders. Notice the soft warm light Tintoretto uses in his painting. What we are witnessing is a horrible invasion of personal privacy and yet the scene and its light are incredibly peaceful and welcoming. This light does not reflect the nature of the story at all. Susanna was almost put to death because of this moment and yet we have a scene with a low-intense amber glow. The only way this lighting choice makes any sense in the context of the story is if this scene is meant to reflect the elders point of view and honestly that's rather sicking and twisted as it inadvertently shifts the blame of the act and its consequences from the elders onto Susanna. After all, how can you blame the elders when Susanna is practically glowing in that noon day sunlight.

Artemisia Gentileschi's painting is not an exact literal visual translation of the events. In her piece the three characters are crowed onto a stone border with Susanna on one side and the elders on the other. The piece as a whole is incredibly claustrophobic but you can still easily understand that Gentileschi is trying to capture the emotional turmoil Susanna is in not necessarily the actual proceedings of the event. Gentileschi doesn't try and mimic an actual light source, the sharply angled light is far to white to be coming from a setting sun, instead she choses a type of light that reflects the nature of the men's crime. Her light is harsh, unrelenting, and inescapable. The light reveals every inch of Susanna's body yet keeps the two men partially hidden by the shadows it creates. This light is stark and almost painful as Susanna is turning away from it and her accusers with great distress and a very pained expression on her face. This light truly expresses the narratives theme of unwanted attention.

Entry 17

 James Abbot McNeill Whistler's Nocturne: Blue and Gold. Old Battersea Bridge

 image taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:James_Abbot_McNeill_Whistler_006.jpg

James Abbot McNeill Whistler was on of the parents of the artistic movement known as Tonalism. Tonalism emerged in the 1880s as American artists began to paint landscapes with colored atmospheres or mist. The style was dominated by dark and neutral colors such as grays, browns, and blues. Nocturne: Blue and Gold. Old Battersea Bridge is a Tonalist painting of the  Battersea Bridge which crosses the Thames River in England. The bridge was an old monument which was eventually replaced with a newer one. In his painting of the bridge Whistler took several artistic liberties, exaggerating the bridge’s size and arc.

Even knowing this very little about the Tonalist movement it is apparent that Nocturne: Blue and Gold. Old Battersea Bridge is a perfect addition to the style. The colors are a muggy was of dark blues and grays and a misty atmosphere is replicated with wavy soft brush strokes. However, we are looking at how this piece uses light not color and line. Still, even without the aid of color it is apparent that the time period this painting has captured occurs during the late evening. Why is it apparent because of the lack of intense light, the number of lights in the sky, and the lights reflected onto the river. If the scene took place during the day and the sun were out there would be an intense light source that would create a harsh shadow. If the sky were merely too cloudy for the sun to create such shadows we wouldn't be able to see any other lights and the sky and it wouldn’t be dark enough for the lights of the buildings in the background to be seen or reflected by the river. The fact that we can see the fireworks in the sky but not any shadows on the ground tells us that this painting is capturing an evening on the Thames. So we are out on the river during a night of celebration; yet, we are too far away for the fireworks in the sky to create light strong enough to cast shadows.

What does this light tell us? What does this light convey? The intensity and distribution of the lights we see only reveal two main things about the setting, it is late in the evening and there is a celebration going on. There isn’t much to be gleamed from the light sources in this painting until you note how strange it is. Why is the light so soft? There are fireworks in the sky and they can easily be confused for stars. Fireworks are not soft lights, often they create rays so intense they may as well be a collection of tiny suns. So, why isn’t the shy full of bright, highly contrasting, colorful lights? Why are the reflections of the buildings and objects on the water stronger than any shadows being cast on the ground? Why is is the light so soft, because the mood is soft. Whistler isn’t trying to convey a narrative of exciting bombastic change but a narrative of quiet peaceful contemplation. The light itself doesn’t tell a story it reinforces one. The light in Nocturne: Blue and Gold. Old Battersea Bridge is as quiet and peaceful as the scene it depicts.