L I G H T matters- the LUMINAL LAB

Caroline Mathieu
Promotors: Valéry Ann Jacobs, Harry Cole

This research project investigates the influence of coloured light on perception. It pursues a twofold approach. On the one hand, it intends to clarify how coloured light influences the perception of the beholder within the performative space. On the other hand, it also pursues an artistic approach through the creation of an immersive installation that can function as an example of performative spaces in general and provide (future) lighting designers with the tools to light a scene independently from any specific mise-en-scène.

Many lighting designs tend to ‘forget’ this sensory experience. They are meant to colour space or to highlight certain objects, to foresee interplay between light and shadow, to cut between scenes, to add atmosphere, but how much do we really know about what these lights feel like for an individual in the audience? Is it scientifically clear how light works on the (sub)conscious mind? Moreover, is it possible to go beyond the subjective ‘feel’ of colour?

The changing of light is mostly registered unconsciously. The moment when one atmosphere almost imperceptibly transforms into another and the perceptive field is, as it were, 'open' to interpretation. For the viewer this transition happens largely unconsciously: the change is palpable, but not pronounced. The viewer anticipates, as it were, a 'new' state in which recognition becomes possible again.

For creating the necessary means for collecting data, I have created a framework in which colour can be perceived as objectively as possible, yet still be perceived within the realm of a performative space. I have called this the Luminal Lab. Its name is wordplay between lumen and liminality and is exactly that; a play of light that dwells on the very specific character of light itself. Liminality, for it works at a crossroads between the conscious and the unconscious, between science and art, but first and foremost, because it grasps the viewer’s attention in the changing of colours and their intensity.

The aim is to create a space, which feels safe and acts with neutrality.  No surroundings or interference of props, but a mere ‘wall’ of cloth that will function as a diffusion filter. There will be no stimuli except for the light score. I want the light to encapsulate the individual. Through immersion, the light can be used optimally.

The lab is a performative form of research: between science and art, between creativity and analysis. I aim to collect data through different installations of these spaces, and through different light scores. I will also undertake research on the differences between LED light and conventional theatre lights. Along the way, as the Luminal Lab finds its form, the research will collect the necessary performative settings in which light can be perceived optimally. Eventually, it is not only my goal to help fellow lighting designers, but also to use these data – the collected experiences of colour and light transitions – in a ‘sensorial’ performance of my own.