What is the inspiration...
Lumia Grande is an ode to the original inventor of the Lumia art form, Thomas Wilfred. This is a project that I have been thinking about building for the past 15-20 years. I was first introduced to a version of Lumia art when I was a teenager. My parents owned a box shaped light that could be best described as a “psychedelic mood lamp”. I would find myself staring at this for hours being completely intrigued and fixated by the forms that it created. I finally took it apart to find out what was responsible for making such amazing imagery. I always thought how cool it would be to build a much larger version of this device.
Quote from Eugine Epstein a Lumia art collector and aficionado...
"Conventional artists manipulate materials [stone, pigments, etc.]. These ‘objects’ reflect light into our eyes to form the images they want us to see. If there were no light, we could not experience their art. In contrast, Wilfred ‘sculptured’ light directly."
Skip forward 20 years… a bit of research on the web and I have been overwhelmed by the depth of information regarding the term which was coined by Wilfred in the early 1900’s to describe “an eighth art” where light would stand on its own as an expressive art form. This is truly the act of sculpting light into a random composition of intensities, color, form and shape that changes slowly over time. I have chosen to take this concept and enlarge the scale and bring it to a perfect stage framed by the vast barrenness of the desert and lack of light during night hours.
What form will it take...
This is the part that I can easily handle.. the other bits when related to electicity and solar and such are going to require some assistance. :) The largest single piece of plexi that I can find is 4 feet x 8 feet... so that will be about the overall size of things. I am not sure of the exact depth yet, but I am guessing that it will be about 4 feet deep. The depth will be primarily based on how far back the bulb needs to be in order to correctly focus the light on the viewing plane. I will probably just use 4 pieces of 2"x6" lumber to construct the frame. The plexi-glass will sit inside this frame. The rest of the box will be constructed out of 1/2" plywood. The entire piece needs to be assembled on site, not an option to transport this fully built.
Always think safety net...
Lumia Grande will be secured to the ground via 2 to 4 pieces of rebar hammered into the playa deep enough to hold things tight. The other ends of the rebar will just be connected to the plywall or 2x6 frame. Solar garden lights will be used to define an area surrounding the piece and will help illuminate for safety during night time hours. Anyone have one of those rebar hammer things?
How will it be powered...
I'm going to be needing some help with this stuff as I usually try to stay away from things that can shock me. A solar panel on top of the piece will charge (1 or 2) deep cycle 12v batteries. Will be needing a solar panel.. probably can just get batteries as Costo. I am only guessing at the energy usage at this point but will need some help to determine how much juice is really necessary. I would assume that some type of LED light will be much better for energy consumption when compared to a regular incandescent. Some experimentation might be needed here to see how these light types work in this situation. A small 12volt motor will also need to be wired into the system. The motor needs to spin slowly or be geared in a way so that it turns the reflector at the correct speed.
Interaction and viewing experience...
This piece will not be interactive in a traditional sense. The viewer will not have any control over the speed, color, intensities of shapes and forms that they see. It is hard to predict what interaction might occur among the viewers, but I could imagine that many discussions will be spawned during or after viewing. Many assumptions to the inter-workings of the piece will be sure to perplex. Although primarily it’s an intimate experience that differs with each viewer, I have been compelled in the past to try to explain what I am seeing with others around me in an effort to share my personal experience. I am very excited to observe and discuss this experience with others to share.
What does it look like?
This is a photo of the small scale mood lamp that was originally owned by my parents. The light is projected onto a semi-opaque or milky piece of plexi-glass. The shapes rotate slowly over time while the colors also change.Click here to see it in motion.
How does it work?
The inner workings of this is actually quite basic. Although I will be needing some significant help to deal with currents and voltage and soldering etc. A bulb emits light through glass color filters and then the colored light is reflected via a slowly rotating silver Mylarplastic pinwheel type object. The pieces that I have seen from Wilfred were based on a much more complex design of mirrors, lights, lenses and multi-colored discs that also rotated making an almost limitless combinations of form and color. I did read something regarding how Wilfred did calculations on how often the patterns could statistically be repeated.
Some links to other cool art stuff:
Wikipedia Thomas Wilfred
More information on Thomas Wilfred and his Clavilux Jr.
Site dedicated to Light Art and Lumia
1 comment:
wow...I am so impressed with your ingenuity! The idea of changing light patterns is very cooling and comforting for me to think about, especially when the colors are soft as in your example.
I look forward to spending some time with the 'Lumina' in about 11 weeks!!!!
Ars Longa Vita Brevis
Life is short, but art endures
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