Subtle Lighting:

To better understand the reasoning behind my chosen subtle lighting environment, I must define subtleties within my own personal context. Subtle lighting is dependent on its invisible participation within the environment that it inhabits. In other words, in a subtle lighting environment, the light must blend within its environment, not act an environment itself.

The lighting in my bedroom (during the morning until the afternoon) almost always goes unnoticed. Natural sunlight fills the room and leaves a slight and subtle gradient across the walls. The source of the light exists on only one wall of the four-walled room, but is surprisingly evenly distributed throughout the bedroom, even in the furthest corners of the room.

Both of the windows have white linen curtains drawn. These curtains act as a soft filter from the harsh sunlight and help to create a ‘balanced out’ tone. The light has a soft white glow from behind the curtains, and illuminates the fabric. The gradient from light to dark is pale and indistinct, much like the color of my walls. The walls of my room are a soft teal color but look almost white from the daylight.

The lighting in my room invokes inner peace. Even though the curtains are drawn the soft light makes me feel like it is a nice day out. The naturally lit room adds a soft light to the face, but is quite revealing. Even though imperfections in my face are visible, they are not enhanced. The lighting is honest, and when I look in the mirror I know that I can see everything and that nothing is hidden.

I spend a lot of time looking at the slight shadows that were cast on the pastel walls and was comforted by it’s subtlety. The low contrast blends in with the teal in my room.

Consciously pondering subtlety has revealed how light effects my mood. There is no better way to say it, but natural light makes me feel like I’m not being lied to. Its beauty exists in indiscretion and delicate nature. This type of subtle lighting creates an open environment and is effective in making the place feel serene.

Extreme / Outrageous:

Extreme lighting situations occur when light becomes the subject of its environment and overpowers all of its surroundings. I found the rainbow alarm clock in my roommate’s room to be extremely outrageous. Her room has no windows and receives no natural light. When the light isn’t on, her rainbow alarm clock gives off a hot red glow. This light is seemingly absorbed by the wooden shelf and doesn’t radiate far at all.

The alarm clock lights are colored neon: green, red and yellow. Although the light is intense it doesn’t radiate very far, and leaves the rest of the room hidden in darkness. Because the light has a shortened radius, I feel constrained and claustrophobic, I am completely unaware of my surroundings and can only see what the harsh light illuminates. It also invokes aggravation, but it may be because that light is always on whenever I am trying to sleep.

The high contrast and saturated colors are attention grabbing, and easily stir my emotions. What I found to be the most influential was how constricted my sight was. If the alarm light was not on, my eyes would better adjust to nighttime vision, instead the one small pool of light is constantly dilating my pupils making it impossible for me to see beyond it.

I have chosen this environment of extreme lighting based on my definition of what I deem as extreme. Further analysis of this specific environment has made clear the importance of openness for my mood. Harsh contrastive lights are too constricting, and highly saturated colors are not soothing. On a lighter note, these extreme qualities command attention and act as a subject in its own right. Even though this type of extreme lighting elicits an aggravated emotion

Familiar lighting

I chose my bathroom as a depiction of familiar lighting. For my entire life my bathrooms have always had some form of natural light that comes from an opaque and blurred window. This type of light is something that I see almost every morning and every day.

The bathroom lighting is similar to the lighting in my bedroom, but because the floor and the shower are a reflective tile, the light is more abundant and quite reflective. Since the objects in the environment are colder, and less absorbent the bathroom is always brighter. Even when I’m inside the shower the light is still bright.

The opaque window creates a soft white glow, and that light bounces off brightly from the mirror and the steel lining of the shower. Each reflection aids in illuminating the small room. Because the light bounces from multiple angles very few shadows appear on my face.

This soft and bright lighting elicits a feeling of serenity. The familiarity of natural light through the mosaic like window is almost nostalgic. I am immediately reminded of my bathroom at home. I have often encountered windows of this type, so this bathroom has multiple layers of familiarity. It is familiar in the sense that I am a participant in this environment everyday, but also in the sense that this type of subtle and clear light is present in my past.

The mirrors really add to the feelings that arise from this lighting environment. This is also why this particular lighting is familiar to me. Almost all bathrooms have mirrors and tile, so almost all bathrooms with have light coming from multiple angles. What I found the most calming about this is how ‘honest’ natural light seems to feel. Nothing is too obscured and almost everything (on my face) is clear and visible. The clarity and brightness of the bathroom makes the environment feel really open, and an open environment is quite tranquil.

Scale Space 1 from Corinna Loo on Vimeo.

Narrative Scale Space 2: Assignment 4 from Corinna Loo on Vimeo.

Light Lines: Assignment 6 from Corinna Loo on Vimeo.

This must be played with the sound very loud!

Assignment 5: Color and Light from Corinna Loo on Vimeo.