This project started with my interest in patterned light. I first sought to build a lighting fixture of some kind that used artificial light and created patterns on the ceiling, walls, or floor of a room. This was inspired by my original interest in middle eastern mashrabiyas and patterned lamps. I furthered my conceptual development by analyzing our class readings under the same light as my project.
Erwin Hauer’s work with architectural screens and walls jumped out at me instantly and struck me as a modernist’s attempt to build concrete mashrabiyas at a much larger scale. With the same craft and detail of their wooden counterparts, these screens were more about the light on and through them rather than the patterns they produced. Reading Light Revealing Architecture helped me to analyze and understand different kinds of light and to decide to try to use focal glow, ambient luminescence, and play of brilliance in my project. The Geometry of Environment expanded my knowledge of symmetry and how I could apply it to my project. Vision in Motion furthered my understanding of vision by setting up and describing eight varieties of photographic vision. It also helped me analyze how light is seen and how it can be modified to alter experience. The readings in Dimensional Color furthered my education about bounced color and inspired me to play with color in my project.
In order to build a lamp that spread patterns across surfaces, I decided to use the IQlight pattern from Holger Strøm to create a globe-like lamp with perforated surfaces. The perforations in this surface would let light through the lamp and play shadows across surfaces. My first experiment with a cardstock lamp proved unsuccessful as the material let too much light through. At this point, I also decided that it would be interesting to have a smaller, completely patterned lamp inside of a larger, solid lamp. Therefore, the pattern would be cast upon the larger lamp since it would prove to be a closer surface.
I tried this with my second experiment using chipboard but was also unsuccessful. I furthered this experiment by putting the lamp in my light box from earlier projects and exploring the ideas of patterned light and added the concept of color using a multi-colored bulb. These explorations were quite beautiful but overall, proved to be too hard to pull off at a larger scale. I also started playing with surfaces for the light to fall on. I used a spiral-cut piece of paper to wrap the bulb and a piece of translucent foam. The translucent foam inspired me to bring back my screen ideas and use a fixed or moveable surface to cast the light on.
The four screens that I created employ patterned openings and transulcent surfaces to create distorted, dynamic patterns. These screens are small and can be easily moved and re-positioned. The thin, translucent surfaces are placed at a relatively close proximity to the screen to ensure that even in low lighting conditions, the patterns are cast and legible
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