Miwa Matreyek's glorious visions

Video sourced from http://www.ted.com/talks/miwa_matreyek_s_glorious_visions.html


I found this video whilst searching on TED and I thought I would upload and share it as I found it really inspirational to watch. The performance is by Miwa Matreyek a performance and animation artist from Los Angeles California.

I am studying lighting at the moment within the context of landscape architecture for my dissertation, and am therefore very interested in the applications that lighting can be applied to. I felt the performance showed the adaptability of lighting projectors for performance and its ability to change perception of a space, person or object. Watching Miwa Matreyek performances makes me wonder how landscape could be very different if lighting was used more elaborately for changing the realization of a space and the factors surrounding it, such as a wall within or enclosing a space. Or the paving on which we walk on. The space could almost become a digital facade hiding and manipulating what is truly there.


Miwa Matreyek website with more performances http://www.semihemisphere.com/performance.html

Tiger Stone by Vanku b.v.

Video sourced from http://www.youtube.com/user/vankubv

The Tiger Stone Machine developed by in the Netherlands by machinery specialist vanku b.v. is a automatic brick paving layer. The machine is available in in 4,5 and 6 meter widths and the operators are able to lay almost 1000 square meters per day. It was developed to be more Ergonomic for the operators allowing them to be able to stand with comfort whilst placing the bricks into the machine without needing to bend and kneel in uncomfortable positions. It was also developed to have a higher productivity, whilst still achieving very high standards. The machine certainly appears that it will be able to transform residential street development especially as the developers would like to see it being produced for smaller functions in the future for rental purposes. But with its retracted size its hard to see it as a primary tool for large urban developments, but defiantly as a time and money saver for certain roles.

Guerrilla Lighting

Guerrilla Lighting in Douglas on The Isle Of Man. Buildings are lit by groups waving torches and mobile lights with colour filters at five separate buildings.

Sourced from http://www.youtube.com/user/GlennWhorrall

Find a Guerrilla Lighting to attend at http://guerrillalighting.net/

Guerrilla lighting is a group set up for “war on bad lighting, guerrilla lighting is a protest against wasteful use of light but most of all, guerrilla lighting is about having fun and raising the awareness of the power of light.”Guerrilla lighting aims to act against the uniformity of standard architectural lighting.

I agree strongly with with Guerrilla lighting as lighting for many buildings appears to be a statement carried out in a negative grandiloquent way, with not much considerations upon its surroundings. Lighting is a wonderful design tool that can make a space become a place that people can socialize in where their dreams and aspirations can be released. Guerrilla lighting is aiming that this can became a realization with every nocturnal landscape and building. The Guerrilla methods used involve organizing groups of people with hand held torches and coloured filters to illuminate areas with inadequate lighting. Creating very temporary lighting inspirations that can only be seen with a fleeting glimpse as the activists move to the next target.

“architectural lighting is not a competition – brighter is not better”

Kew Gardens in Autumn

I made this short slide show as I had far to many pictures I wanted to share of kew gardens but these pictures really don't show its beauty during this time of year.

Access by Marie Sester

Video sourced from (http://www.youtube.com/user/scottmahoy#p/u)

Access by Marie Sester is a interactive lighting project that involves pedestrians within a space but also you at home can have play with their light environment. If you access the website for Marie Sester project you can actually choose who the light falls upon and watch their reaction from the web cameras. At the moment the project is based in SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the USA from October 30, 2010 - April 17, 2011 and in ZKM Center for Art and Media In Karlsruhe, Germany which is a Permanent installation launched November 19, 2006. The project is really amazing to be involved in when in the comfort of my home I can change and play with different peoples experiences within in a space. It is particularly exciting when you can get a reaction from someone making them stop and look up at the light or change their direction to see if the light will follow them literally putting people in the lime light.

The website with the interactive display is http://www.accessproject.net/index.html

KMA

video sourced from (http://www.youtube.com/user/tlw999)

KMA (Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler) is a UK based digital media design team, their main aims their work promotes conveys the use of movement, function, play and interaction within a public space. Their main media for achieving these aims is the use of lighting that reacts with pedestrian movement. The light projected onto the floor often links strangers together with strands of light. The installations are modeled upon natural events such as swarm and large masses of animals, creating a moving digital sculpture. Although none of this could be achieved without the interaction and activity within the public spaces. KMA’s most well known instillation was in London’s Trafalgar Square. The instillation known as Flock took place in February 2007 transforming the 625 meter squared space into a ballet stage. The instillation projected ballet dancers on to the ground that would dance on the spot. The instillation was a great success as many of the pedestrians would dance with the ballet dancers throughout Trafalgar Square.

Total Cost: £45,000
Duration: 3 weeks
Lightings used: Christie Roadster s+20k-sxga+20000
lumen 3-chip DLP digital projector

John Pawson plain space design museum

John Pawson speaking on his ideals of plain space
second video sourced from (http://www.youtube.com/user/PhaidonPress)

This exhibition at the Design Museum celebrates the work of london based architect John Pawson. The exhibition is showing a great amount of John Pawson’s work through out his career highlighting his very minimalist approach to design. There are many models all at different sizes and stages of design development, the exhibition even houses a 1:1 room designed especially for the exhibition for the visitors to understand his approach in a even clearer detail. The whole exhibition is really quite refreshing to walk through particularly after walking along the cluttered london streets. Everything feels designed for functionality and it has a pure beauty to the models and images.

The exhibition is open until the 30 January 2011

James Turrell Gagosian Gallery kingscross

video sourced from (http://www.youtube.com/user/KunstmuseumWolfsburg)

The Gagosian Gallery in Kingscross, London is currently hosting a small exhibition by James Turrell unfortunately photography isn't allowed but I have linked this video of the Wolfsburg gallery presentation of James Turrell’s work. This exhibition was truly inspirational the space started with models and drawing of his roden crater, then the exhibition led down a darkened corridor which passed a room containing a brightly lit square image on a wall with steps leading to it and people sitting at the bottom of it.

The corridor then entered a room exhibiting a single glowing rectangle with intense beautiful colours but this isn't what I appreciated the most about this image it was the perfect straight, crisp edges and the contrast between the white emulsion wall and the light. The light seemed so contained in the image unable to pass over the edge. The room contained only one other instillation which was a large opaque sphere containing a bright blue light. You could lie inside perfectly sealed in this sphere alone with the light for up to 30 minutes but unfortunately this needs to be booked in advance, but when talking to people who had been inside they said that they had experienced hallucinations and visions.

The next room was the one seen from the first corridor at the begin with the large brightly lit image. I stood viewing this image for a while when I saw someone walk up to it and then up the stairs and then step inside the picture which blew me away. Inside the perfectly edged picture was a world with no edges or corners full of intense light and colour and it felt as if the space went on for infinity.

This exhibition is incredible and I highly recommend it.

gagosian gallery OCTOBER 13 - DECEMBER 10, 2010

Berkeley Street and Dover Street short cut

The short cut by Jason Bruges Studio utilizes a well used alleyway in between Berkeley Street and Dover Street. The short cut consist of a short (8 Meters) and narrow (2 meters) passageway that appears dimly lit until one passes through the space when the rows of dimly lit up lighters light your presence chasing you through the alley. The project makes good use of the very intimate and hurried space, if walking through this space alone the lights act as a comforting ambience. But when the space is being well used the space becomes very well light with chasing lights crashing into one another.