light

Posts tagged
with light

Photography

Topographical Light Paintings

Photographer Janne Parviainen (previously) has been experimenting with a fun form of photographic light painting that resembles 3D topographical maps. Exposure times can take over 30 minutes as he carefully moves through the room with a light “tracing” every surface and object. See more in his light topography gallery.

Art

Water Light Graffiti: A Moisture-Sensitive Surface Embedded with LEDs Creates Illuminated Art

For the past few weeks artist Antonin Fourneau has been working at the Digitalarti Artlab in Paris creating what’s being called his Water Light Graffiti system. The device utilizes a giant matrix of LEDs embedded in a moisture-sensitive panel that when exposed to water causes the lights inside to instantly illuminate. The fun thing is that almost anything becomes a temporary paintbrush: a wet hand, a squirt gun, a paintbrush or even an atomizer. Water Light Graffiti was recently put on display in Poitiers, France and you can watch the video above to see it in use, and here’s a short clip (in French) of Fourneau showing how the entire thing was constructed. Many more photos here.

Art

Edison’s Cradle? A Kinetic Toy Reinvented with Light

As part of his senior thesis exhibition at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, art student Yasutoki Kariya re-imagined the ubiquitous desktop gadget, Newton’s Cradle, using a lovely sequence of light bulbs. Entitled Asobi (which translates roughly as “playing“) the 11-bulb installation creates a visual interpretation of the popular toy named after Sir Isaac Newton demonstrating his third law of motion regarding momentum: that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. However, instead of actual energy created by the kinetic force of steel balls, Kariya devised a method for using programmed light and two surreptitiously placed pistons to create this purely visual experience that’s arguably more mesmerizing than the original concept.

As an added super bonus, the team over at the Experiments in Motion blog created the animation above which easily contends for one of the most beautiful animated gifs I’ve ever seen, already racking up over 167,000 shares on Tumblr this weekend.

Asobi was nominated for the 2012 Mitsubishi Junior Designer Award. (via spoon & tamago)

Photography

Illuminated Landscapes by Benoit Paillé

Montreal-based photographer Benoit Paillé has been working on a fascinating series of landscapes using a bizarre lighting method involving a suspended glowing square. The images above are not photoshopped, the 1×1 meter light is instead hung in the center of each photograph and the resulting image shows the unique form of illumination that creeps into the surrounding area. Paillé says his goal is to redefine what a landscape photograph is by questioning its reality, creating a kind of poetic moment in space and time. You can see many more of his Alternative Landscapes on Flickr.

Art

Outdoor Light Interventions by Luzinterruptus Illuminate the Streets of Madrid

Luzinterruptus is an anonymous artistic group in Madrid who seek to highlight problems within the city using a wide variety of temporary light-based installations. The group is headed up by a duo including an artist and a photographer who have been using their art to create awareness of social and environmental issues since 2008. Via their website:

We began to act on the streets of Madrid at the end of 2008 with had the simple idea of focusing people´s attention by using light on problems that we found in the city and that seem to go unnoticed to the authorities and citizens. But everything that we do does not have a subversive aim. Sometimes we simply want to embellish, or to highlight anonymous places or corners that seem special or objects to which we think extraordinary artistic value, although they have been left on the streets for unknown seasons, with artistic intention, by anonymous people.

From memorializing a public swimming pool taken from a community with empty governmental promises of a new one, to ghostly commentary on nuclear power, I find their work to be fun, original and always a pleasure to discover. Shown above is just a glimpse of my favorite five of their works, so make sure to check out their blog or Facebook to see dozens more.

Art

Brunce Munro Light Exhibition at Longwood Gardens

Artist Bruce Munro (previously) just opened a new exhibition at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania including a number of impressive translucent silos constructed from bottles. The exhibition will be up through September 11. Images above via Corriette Schoenaerts and Linden Gledhill.