light installations

Today I went to Scarborough to visit some open studio events. I was particularly interested to see the Dome d'Ombre installation called 'Source' at St Martin on-the-hill. Set in the crypt of the church, in complete darkness the installation was comprised of three elements:

The first was a tunnel-like structure, set into a doorway, made of crinkled fabric with a light projection onto it. The film varied from softly dappled light moving gently, to something more like flashes of lightening. It gave me a very strange sensation of relaxation and excitement.

The largest installation used a tree stump or branches (not sure which) sitting in a shallow pool of water. This was then used to project onto a fabric hung in space as a screen. The projected image did not really look like the subject matter but still liquid and fluid. The sound of dribbling water echoed around the crypt. It was utterly mesmerising.

The final piece was a series of three 'streams' of fine white sand, illuminated as they trickle steadily to the floor. This piece seemed to demonstrate the passage of time.

I really enjoyed seeing the work and found it quite inspirational. It reminded me of the emotional responses I feel to various light conditions; in fact light qualities have a direct bearing on my mood and emotional state.

Talking briefly to one of the artists she suggested that I could look at altering the surface of the fabric as a way of creating 'shadows' on cloth. I thought this was a really interesting suggestion and I really like the idea of creating different surfaces and densities that could be used as screens for projection.