nothing disappears completely

sean michael mcalister’s

n o t h i n g d i s a p p e a r s c o m p l e t e l y

lumière mystérieuse + the mytho-poetic basis of architecture

x





a material unit publication [ masters programme ] [ dundee school of architecture ]

[

]


“It is the light that produces the effects ... If I can avoid that the light arrives directly, then to make it penetrate without the spectator noticing its origin, the product is a mysterious and inconceivable effect”

Boullée, c.179001

01 Étienne-Louis Boullée [c.1790] Architecture, Essai sur l’art, Hermann [1968] p93

“C’est la lumière qui produit les effets... Si je peu éviter que la lumière arrive directement, et la faire pénétrer sans que le spectateur aperçoive d’où elle part, les effets résultans d’un jour mystérieux produiront des effets inconcevables”

Boullée, c.1790

ii

v acknowledgementsxi a note on the layout of this book01 introduction: what is light?

91 alistofwordsanddefinitionsimportanttothisbook97 matzine100 bibliography102 image references

iii

06 lumière mystérieuse10 the thingness of light15 optics19 vision

23 visual perception

27 a note on the use of portmanteaux29 luminaesthesia31 proximography

41 absolute black

47 shadow

35 extroprojection

43 scotopia

52 transapparition55 eye obscura

59 the solaris project

73 piii : engine room

69 pi : scotopia

63 the solaris plates71

pii : trajan’s seat 75

pv : escape hatch

75 piv : room 5598577

narration and the lens

81 a note on the f lming of black mill

87 a note on the etching process

v acknowledgementsxi a note on the layout of this book01 introduction: what is light?

c o n t e n t s

91 alistofwordsanddefinitionsimportanttothisbook97 matzine100 bibliography102 image references

iv

v

a c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s

Helen + FergusThe MatsThe print studio: Mark + Peter

and anyone else who engaged, then challenged my work. In. Progress.

Thank you

vi

vii

p r e f a c e

Light is something you can’t touch, you can’t see it, move it nor weigh it. Light doesn’t need air. In the morning, light visits distant planets and bounces back to Earth, before you boil your kettle. And light can travel-time.

Where does the ‘wonder of light’ exist in architecture? Where does architecture marvel in the mysterious, intangible and untouchable quality of light? Who is pushing the illusion of light, understanding its nature above all others? Should this not be each architects’ mission?

For me, one of the greatest and saddest paradoxes of our time is the story of light in architecture. Do we not have the means to beam a laser so that it is visible on the moon? Do we not have the vast infrastructures in place to turn entire nocturnal environments into day, with legions of street lamps? Do we not have the ability to track, measure and mitigate the sun’s illuminance better than ever?

Consider our expressionless office spaces, ouromnidirectional fluorescent tubes, our deep [efficient]floor plans; void of natural light and our evenly lux’edhomes with evenly lux’ed corridors. We have the greatest

fig01 [image on contents page]

Photograph of a bulb, dipped into

bitumen and reconnected to the

lamp.Thisfish-eyeeffectcouldbe

a cheap way to make a lens.

fig02 Astronomers Instrument. The

protective shell of an observatory’s

telescope. This model was a

response to a short design exercise

entitled ‘sheet music,’ The basis

of which was a sequence of

abstractions, in some way linked to

my proposed thesis.

viii

ix

understandingandcontrolof lightatourfingertipsnowmore than at any other time in history, and what do we have to show for it?

This book’s title, ‘Nothing Disappears Completely’ is a reference to an enigmatic quality of light and darkness thatappealstooursenses;thosespacesandimageswemightfindhardtoexplain01.

This book, as a thesis, is as much about the enigma of light as it is about modes of representing it; as much aboutthe ‘lens’ used to capture the image, as it is about the narrative the image suggests. Enigmas inherently raise questions.

Do we need to see in order to feel darkness?How much light do people need in order to live, and how much darkness?Are there things we can experience only in dark, shaded places, in the darkness of night?When the lights go out, can you become the space your body inhabits?Is it even possible to imagine things without light?Is there such a thing as bad light?Indeed, is there such a thing as good light?What do we want to illuminate, and how long for?Can we see something without interacting with it?What is light?

Is it an illusion?

01 The title comes from a book by Henri Lefebvre, see p52

fig03 Section of the Pantheon, Rome.

Originally commissioned by Marcus

Agrippa in 27 BC

x

xi

a n o t e o n t h e l a y o u t o f t h i s b o o k

The layout of this book gives the reader a suggested sequence of reading. This sequence represents a particular route through my thesis. However, the book is designed so that it may be read in a nonlinear order.

The layout of this book is also designed to be navigated by the reader, using provided references as guides to further enquiry. This method is an acknowledgement of the interlinking and overlapping nature of the various aspects of this subject, and the method of study. see also

“narration and the lens” p77

Throughout the book, there are notes to the reader concerning: methodology, definitions important to thestudy and internal cross-references and references to the MaterialUnit’sbroaderfieldofstudy.02

Special attention has been given to the idea of ‘process’ throughout my research, a habit and passion picked up from the Material Unit studio. The staggered layout of the images, text and footnotes should be understood as a reflectionofthis.

This book is a thesis, a catalogue and an artefact, not a ten thousand word essay.

02 The Material Unit is the masters unit at Dundee School of Architecture, within which my course of research is based. The Material Unit is referred to several times throughout this book and so for an expanded explanation see p97

fig04 Shadow revealing form.

Photograph was shot face-on to this

door lock, with the light from above

revealing the relief of the object:

shadows contain data, or perhaps

reveal data.

xii

01

i n t r o d u c t i o n : w h a t i s l i g h t ?

“In working with light, what is really important is to create an experience of wordless thought, to make the quality and sensation of light itself something really quite tactile...

Often people reach out and try to touch it” [Turrell, 2009]03

I’m fascinated by the enigmatic substance of light. This course of research began as an obsession with depictions of light in science-fiction movies04, however it has since been brought back to earth. Through studying light as a subject my attention has been drawn to things on the boundary of visibility, when one can just make out a thing’s presence. Here, I’ve found, is light’s greatest illusion

03 Turrell, J, 2009, Geometry of Light, Hatje Cantz p90

04 ForexampleBladeRunner,2001:ASpaceOdyssey,Metropolisetc..

fig05 Enlargement of intaglio print,

“Obelisk on a Horizon”. The

image tested an exaggerated,

monumental perspective, and the

relationship of the human scale to

theout-of-scale.originalsize:a4

02

- it’s absence.The subject of light is broad, it is perhaps impossible to produce a piece of research that could bridge its entirety. In acknowledgement of this my , I have repeatedly focussed my subject of interest, which began as a study into the phenomenology of light; to series of studies concernedwith humanity’s condition regarding light; manifested inour physiology, our sense of illusion and narrative through representation.

This project could be seen to be one about cinematography. I have drawn heavily on my interests in photography, cinema and printmaking in order to investigate illusionary qualities of light. The product is a series of somewhat abstract design investigations, a suggestion of narration.

The main design project takes the form of a monumental, subterranean optical instrument, a space for showing Andrei Tarkovsky’s film, Solaris05. The idea of space as an instrument, an ‘optical toy’ in its own right is perhaps a metaphorforarchitecture;inthisinstance,anarchitecturalproposition is born from human physiology, with regards to vision, psychology, in reference to perception and the objective physics of light.

The Solaris project is augmented with a study in representation and cinematography, which takes the form ofashortfilmcalledBlackMill.06 Set in a ‘future noir’07

05 Solaris,basedonStanislawLem’snovel,wasreleasedtocinemasin 1972, produced with a budget of 1 Million Soviet Roubles. The filmrunningtimewas165minutes,afilmlengthof4,596metreson35mmnegativefilm,aspectratio2.35:1.ThefilmwontheGrand Prix Special du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

06 Anoteontheshortfilm,seep81

07 Future Noir was the ascribed genre for Metropolis,

03

world, both this instrument for showing Solaris, and my shortfilmwereconceivedasformaljuxtapositionsofmyinvestigations in optics and cinema.

Throughout my course of research, I have allowed myself to be influenced by a love for science-fiction cinema,incorporating elements of narrative, or rather, ‘experience’ in my drawings and designs, as if from the point of view of a depicted spectator. I hope for this story telling device to bring my drawings beyond mere “retinal images”, as Pallasmaa would describe:

“A meaningful architectural experience is not simply a series of retinal images. The ‘elements’ of architecture are not visual units or gestalt; they are confrontations and encounters” [Pallasmaa 2000]08

This thesis studies the relationship between light and space, optics and vision, science and psychology. With it, I am trying to convey a holistic understanding of light. This is not an attempt to analyse light in the fullest sense, nor tobestrictinfulfillingapragmaticarchitecturalbrief.Theaspects of light which I choose to include, representing enigmatic or illusionary qualities, are not intended to comprise a self-encompassed, theoretical idea. Neither are these phenomenon those which exhibit the greatest illusionary or awe inspiring qualities. They do, however, show a fair range of these enigmatic qualities of light, which Ifind ‘stir theviewers fantasy’09 and that is what

a1927GermanExpressionistfilm.

08 Juhani Pallasmaa [2000] Encounters: architectural essays: Stairways of the Mind, Rakennustieto Oy, p60

09 See p87. “Piranesi’s ability to stir the viewer’s fantasy - to convey through his etchings a certain emotional apprehension of the ancient world and the city that for Piranesi most embodied it namelyRome-hadagreaterandmoreenduringinfluence

fig06 left. James Turrell’s “Light

Triangle” is a piece of art which

relates light to the condition of

human visual perception.

fig07 right. Lebbeus Woods’ “Tomb

for Einstein” is an architectural

proposition more closely linked to

science-fictional than pragmatic

design. Yet this foray’s strength is

in the meta-narrative; the implied

story.

04

05

I’m interested in.

Important to this research is a documentation of process, self reflection. The work presented within this essay is the application of research and the testing of my thesis as an investigation of design and representation. The findings of each step of investigation then informs the subsequent course of process.

What is light? Light is a nuisance, to be avoided and mitigated?

“Each individual chamber, then, should have windows, to admit light and to allow a change of air... their frequency and the light they receive are no greater or less than utility demands.” [Alberti, 1452]10

I rather think light is more mysterious.

than his various theoretical treaties” Ficacci, L, [2001]. Giovanni Battista Piranesi: selected etchings, Taschen, Italy p. 12

10 Leon Battista Alberti [1452] On the Art of Building in Ten Books, Rykwert, Leach, and Tavernor, trans. [Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1988], p1.12

fig08 A double exposure photograph,

both intriguing and deceiving. This

effect isn’t technically something a

human can experience with their

own eye - an illusion then ensues

since through this image, we are

capable of imagining it happen.

06

l u m i è r e m y s t é r i e u s e

“The divine light penetrates the universe according to its dignity” [Dante Alighieri, c.1300]11

‘Lumière Mystérieuse’ is a term popularised by architect John Soane in 182812. He used the phrase to describe the effect of light in the Pantheon, percolating mysteriously through the dome. ‘Lumière Mystérieuse’ also refers to the work of Soane’s contemporary, the French classical romanticist, Etienne-Louis Boullee. Both of these notable Architects were fascinated by light and the imagination it inspires. It is perhaps a coincidence that at this time,

11 Dante Alighieri, c.1300, The Divine Comedy, translated by CharlesEliotNorton,Digireads.comPublishing,2005,p259

12 Soanewasatthistimemakingclearhisinfluencefromromantics within the french classical tradition like Boullée

fig09 Illusions aren’t always cheap

tricks, but perhaps they can couple

curiosity and beauty,

07

08

scientist Michael Faraday was theorising the relationship between light and electricity; which subsequently haschanged the way we live.

“It is the light that produces the effects ... If I can avoid that the light arrives directly, then to make it penetrate without the spectator noticing its origin, the product is a mysterious and inconceivable effect” [Boullee, c.1790]13

I’m drawn to those enigmatic moments when the substance of light reveals space in a seemingly impossible configuration. Our visual perception of these illusionsand the space in which they are contained remains as important today as it did for Soane two centuries ago.

“Our eyes are made to see forms in light. Light and shade reveal these forms” [Le Corbusier, 1927]14

Mysterious light conditions, however are not the sole product of light alone. Le Corbusier picks up on the dual effort of “light and shade” in our perception of space and object. The importance of darkness is a sensitivity we develop from an early age as Jun’ichirô Tanizaki suggests “even we as children would feel an inexpressible chill as we peaked into the depths of an alcove to which the sunlight had never penetrated”15. Many of our juvenile questions are answered as we grow up into the ‘real world’, our wild fantasies, suppressed by the hard facts of science.

13 Étienne-Louis Boullée [c.1790] Architecture, Essai sur l’art, Hermann [1968] p93

14 LeCorbusier[1927]TowardsaNewArchitecture, Payson & Clarke, ltd p29

15 Tanizaki,J.[2001]InPraiseofShadows,Vintage, University of Michigan, p31

fig10 left. Boullee’s Cenotaph for

Sir Isaac Newton from 1784 is a

seminal unbuilt monument to the

mysteryoforiginoflight;anoptical

instrument.Seep59

fig11 right. Caravaggio’s “The Calling

of Saint Matthew” The shadows

provide a place for secrets and

mystery; Caravaggio associated

this with the spirit world.

09

But this curiosity remains in adults, and those questions of darkness and shadow prove to be other than simple, naïve concerns:

“Shadows are so fascinating because they are enigmatic and in fact we do not seem to know much about them” [Brandi, 2002]16

“Mystery - if we can use an image here - is like a sombre and unknown night which envelops us completely; it is also like dark space, homogeneous, infinite, such as we have before us

when we close our eyes” [Minkowski, 1933]17

I’m inclined to believe that there exists a mysterious phenomenon concerning light. I associate those moments of trance, for instance, when one loses concentration to the awe of a single shard of sunlight that inextricably finds itself in thedeepest part of your house. From thisperspective, light is far from its functional role of necessity. It is something else.

“Generally, we use light to illuminate other things; I like the thingness of light itself” [Turrell, 2007]18

16 ‘Walking through Shadows” by Ulrike Brandi. in: 2002, The secret of Shadow: Light and Shadow in Architecture, Wasmuth, Berlin

17 Minkowski, E. [1933] Le temps vecu: Etudes Phenomenologiques et Psychopathologiques. Trans by Nancy Metzel in a book called lived time: Phenomenological and Psychopathological studies, Northwestern University Press, Evanston [1970]

18 James Turrell [2007] in Evelyn Pschak, Die Sehnsucht ist Licht, Artnetmagazin, March 16, 2007, http://www.artnet.de/magazine/features/pschak/pschak03-16-07.asp [accessed April 1, 2010] as quoted in Geometry of Light 2009

10

t h e t h i n g n e s s o f l i g h t

see also

“luminaesthesia” p29

“What is the nature of this invisible thing called light whose presence calls everything into view - except itself?”

[Zajonc, 1993]19

There is an uneasiness in describing light as a thing. Scientifically,psychologicallyoraesthetically,lightdefiescategorization.Itinteractswithusinaparticularmanner;we can feel its heat radiatingonour skin;butwe can’tsee it unless it meets a surface.We can cast shadows;

19 Zajonc, A. [1993] Catching the Light: The Entwined History of Light and Mind, Oxford University Press, New York p7

11

but they have no weight. We perceive its presence but it doesn’t seem to obey the rules we live by. We’re then left with calling it neither thing nor nothing. Zajonc’s question underpins a millennia-old paradox concerning light, that we have recently come to describe as the difference between matter and energy.

“There is a “thingness” to light that one cannot form with one’s hands. Light is not verbal; we need images, we need spaces” [Holl, 2000]20

Light as a metaphor can quickly become a cliché, whereas explorations into the objective substance of light have consistently formed foundations for civil advancement

in human history. During the age of enlightenment21 the scientific understanding of light accelerated withexperiment-led research from Michael Faraday, followed

by Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity22. However, his widely accepted and precise formula of light did not stifle our capacity to imagine andwonder about light’snature that has been on our collective consciousness since records began.

Ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Euclid, explained lightasaconsequenceofseeing;describinglightasthe“fire within the eye.”23Theycomparedtheeyestolanterns;as if the eyes emitted a kind of “visual ray”, and that the ray travelled at a given speed, explained those strange

20 Steven Holl, 2000, Parallax, Princeton Architectural Press, p139

21 The age of enlightenment is thought to have formed around mid nineteenth century

22 Einstein’s theory of special relativity incorporates the principle that the speed of light is the same for all observers regardless of the state of motion of the source

23 Joel Achenbach, October 2001, National Geographic, p11

fig12 left. The embossed page of

an etching print. When I began to

learn about the etching process, the

back of the page printed on was

as fascinating to me as the inked-

print itself. The print then becomes a

drawing of relief: light and shadow

directly represent the thing. See

information about etching on p63

fig13 right. Anthony McCall’s “Light

describing a Cone” invited the

viewertotouchtheseraysof light;

an almost tactile “thingness”.

12

13

moments when you looked in the direction of an object but failed to notice its presence immediately. This theory held that the ray “...must strike an object directly before it can be seen”24

While this theory might seem irrational, even unhelpful, to a person born in modern times, it does serve to remind us that we don’t have an innate understanding of light. We rely on the cumulative work and knowledge of theorists and scientists, striving over thousands of years to comprehend the laws of physics, which affords us our current, relatively accurate, description of how light behaves.

Euclid’s theory was disregarded even by his contemporaries after a time. Aristotle was among those to point out: “...if this were true, we’d be able to see in the dark.”25

Aristotle, unfortunately, was not always this clear in his descriptions, “Light is the activity of what is transparent” [Aristotle, c.350BC]26 This rather opaque description of lightresistscomprehensionatfirst,untilonecomparesittoZajonc’s expression at the start of this section. But perhaps this abstract statement is a fair gauge of light’s enigmatic quality;ormoresimply,evengreatmindsfindthatlightisa thing hard to describe.

24 Lbid.

25 Lbid.

26 Aristotlec.350,OnTheSoul,KessingerPublishing2004,p34

fig14 A film still from Black Mill.

See p81. The sunlight streaming into

this dark room and being caught

in the musky air gives a sense of

light ‘occupying’ space and being

a ‘thing’

14

15

o p t i c s

see also

“narration and the lens” p77

“a note on the filming of black mill” p81

Optics is our measured understanding of light. In many ways the story of optics is linked to the story of architecture. As civilisation has developed, so has our understanding of light. Some of the milestones in man’s understanding of light include:

Light travels in straight lines27;Lightcomesfromthesun,not from rays emanating from our eyes28 ; Reflectedlight bounces off a surface at the exact same angle of incidence29;Thefinitespeedoflight3x108 m/s230;Theelectromagnetic spectrum, visible and beyond visible31 ;Special theory of relativity32

27 Euclid [c.300BC] in his book ‘Optica’

28 Ibnal-Haytham[965–1040]inhis‘BookofOptics’

29 Lbid.

30 ‘In1849,HippolyteFizeaudirectedabeamoflightatamirrorseveral kilometres away. A rotating cog wheel was placed in the path of the light beam as it travelled from the source, to the mirror and then returned to its origin. Fizeau found that at a certain rate of rotation, the beam would pass through one gap in the wheel on the way out and the next gap on the way back. Knowingthedistancetothemirror,thenumberofteethonthewheel, and the rate of rotation, Fizeau was able to calculate the speed of light as 313,000,000 m/s’ from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light, accessed 23/03/2010

31 JamesClarkeMaxwell1862,whilelecturingatKing’sCollege, calculated that “the speed of propagation of an electromagneticfieldisapproximatelythatofthespeedoflight” from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell#Electromagnetism,accessed18/04/2010

32 AlbertEinstein,1905,theworldsmost‘catchy’equatione=mc2- energy’s relation to mass in relation to the squared speed of light. a great paradox seems to be that the speed of light is a constant, no matter the relative speed of the observer

fig15Same35mmfilm,scannedthree

times.Thisstripofnegativefilmwas

magnified using a high resolution

digital scanner. bottom 2400dpi,

middle 4800dpi, top 19200dpi.

dpi : dots per inch. For reference,

the average office-grade scanners

scan at 150dpi by default. As

the resolution increases, the film

becomes visually alien.

16

These advances in science also represent paradigm shifts in howweviewtheworld.Fromtheearliestinceptionoffire,having light in the dark of night would have helped tribes andarmies in theirconquestof lands;anunderstandingofreflectionundoubtedlyhelpedperfectmirrorsurfaces;the laws of perspective brought realism and proportion to earlyRenaissancepaintingsandbuildings;manipulatingoptical properties of materials led to the camera obscura, photographs and cinema and now we use optics as our preferred medium in global telecommunications. It wouldn’t be an unfounded statement to say the more we humans understand, and can manipulate light the more it effects our way of life. However confident ourculture seems to be in using light, no matter how many scientificlawsweusetodefinelight,thequestionremainsunanswered, what is light?

“Here we come to one facet of the miracle of light. It has no volume” [Achenbach, 2001]33

One way to prove Achenbach’s statement is by directing vast numbers of high energy lasers at a single point in space, and the light passes through unaffected.34 But it is not necessary to have billion-dollar high-tech laboratory equipment to experience the effects of this illusive quality of light. On a sunny day, when we stretch out our hand and cast a shadow, it is because light is acting as a stream of fast moving particles, that have direction and speed, neither of which we can directly perceive. However the

33 Joel Achenbach, October 2001, National Geographic, p10

34 ThisisthebasicprincipleattheNationalIgnitionFacility,USA, where lasers beams from 192 high energy sources are concentrated on a single pellet of fuel with the aim of producing a nuclear fusion reaction. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8485669.stm,accessed23/03/2010

fig16 left. Photograph of a Nuclear

explosion, a millionth of a second

after ignition. This technological

optic achievement captured

the plasma blast before it even

reached the ground.

fig17 right. Section through two

camera lens. The precision of craft

is required to produce a useful, or

coherent, manipulator of light.

17

shadow cast reveals that our hand wasn’t in fact entering a‘volumeof light’,butrather throughafieldofmovinglight.

A lens is a special artefact. A valid and pragmatic description of a lens could be: an instrument of optical manipulation, embodying the culmination of research into light of human’s recorded history. But the true enigma of these immaculately crafted objects, is evident when they impress upon our conscience much more deeply; theycoherently interact with light like nothing else in nature. Hereliesthelens’facultyforillusion;itcanseemquiteasimple thing, yet produces complex and counter-intuitive marvels.

Optics is essentially the mathematically correct study of this otherwise otherworldly thing. Through optics we can finda common description of light, before it enters thesubjective realm of perception. However between optics and visual perception is the intermediary, the Human eye.

18

19

v i s i o n

see also

“scotopia: dark vision” p43

“transapparition” p52

“The eye is the first circle; the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary figure is repeated without end”[Emerson, 1841]35

The Human eye is a finely tuned instrument, but itscapabilities are quite limited. Light entering the eye has to pass through the pupil, at a given aperture, be refracted by our lens to be focussed on our light sensitive retina.

Vision as a result of light encountering the retina in the human eye is described by two categories, foveal [the central, distinct vision of sight] and peripheral [the less distinct but larger portion of sight]. The retina is an intricate thing, and considering its surface forms roughly 72% of a sphere36, it is in itself an interesting spatial construct. A complex result of spatial awareness, then, is to consider that when we see a two dimensional image, the curvature of our retina and the refracting properties of our lens would translate as a three dimensional reproduction.

35 RalphWaldoEmerson[1841]asfeaturedinCircles,The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson 1971, Harvard University Press, p179

36 “In adult humans the entire retina is approximately 72% of a sphere about 22 mm in diameter. The entire retina contains about7millionconesand75to150millionrods”wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retina, accessed 27/03/2010

fig18 Long exposure photograph

experiment with digital camera.

camera was spun at high velocity in

the presence of a point-source light.

as a result the ‘threads’ appeared,

yet they are all from the one light.

image inverted.

20

Humans, it could be said, are nature’s optical toy.

The eye is a translation device, between an optical and cerebral reading of the outside world. The image we receive from the eye contains a wealth of information - surface, light source, intensity, direction, distance, position, movement etc... For this information to be useful, for our brains to understand it, the light must be tempered, manipulated from it’s diffused, chaotic state into an ordered stream. In our eyes we achieve this using two facilities, the cornea [which has a fixed optical power]and behind that, the lens [which stretches and contracts, giving it a variable optical power].

“Sight produces blindness while blindness generates insight” [Derrida,2005]37

The eye is a symbol, a meta-object enamoured with meaning. Architects are not the least purveyors of the metaphors of vision and the eye. For instance, as the description of an eye develops, so does its similarity with those descriptions of cameras and buildings. Although, since film cameras are a relatively recent concept38 it is important to note the analogy between eye and architecture is perhaps much older. Renaissance architect Vincenzo Scamozzi is said to have “conceived his building as an instrument with apertures and chambers for collecting and combining sunlight, moonlight, and skylight.” [Borys 2004]39

There is a fundamental relationship between optics

37 JacquesDerrida,2005,VitaminD:newperspectivesindrawing, Phaidon p161. original author: Emma Dexter

38 Film,camerasfirstappearedinthelate19thcentury

39 AnnMarieBorys[2004]LumediLume:AtheoryofLightanditsEffects, Journal of Architectural Education, Blackwell Publishing p9

21

and vision. To consider one, is to consider both since our experience of light beginswith the human eye;with itsabilities and limitations. Before our brains interpret the spatialinformationreceivedinoureyes,therearespecificconditions that we learn to take for granted.

“Nothing among visible objects is seen all at once, though the object may be imagined to be seen all at once because of the speed of sight’s glance” [Euclid, c.350BC]40

Similar to his other statements, Euclid seems to point out the obvious yet again proves to be insightful. It would certainly be very difficult for us to see behind a cubewhile standing in front of it - a condition of having a ‘point of view’. Although, there is something further we can take from this his observation that could have parallels drawn with the early twentieth century rise of Cubism, or a more recent example, David Hockney’s ‘Joiners’41.

Cubism, as pioneered by Pablo Picasso, seemed to disregard classical methods of representation in favour of abstracted forms. Derived as a way of representing something beyond our normal visual perception, Cubism broke objects apart, analysed, and re-assembled them. Instead of depicting from a single viewpoint, the subject is shown from a multitude of viewpoints, representing the subjectinagreatercontext.Presumablyinfluencedbythismovement, David Hockney’s work achieves a similar result but with a camera instead of a paintbrush.

40 Euclid,circa.350BC,asquotedin:ElahehKheirandish,2005,TheArabicversionofEuclid’soptics,Volume1,Springer,p4

41 “Photocollages,orjoiners,illustrateaspectsofmovement,sequence, space, and time and contain relational intricacies between real space and philosophical space.” Robinson, C. (2005).Browsing,Bouncing,Murdering,andMooring,Journalof Architectural Education, Iowa, Blackwell Publishing. See p77

fig19 left. Schematic drawing of

Turrell’s “Alien Exam”. This space

was designed to encompass the

entirefieldofviewoftheoccupant,

allowing no discernible features for

the eye to latch onto.

fig20 right. Picasso’s “Portrait of

DanielHenryKahnweiler”1910.

22

“Cubism is like standing at a certain point on a mountain and looking around. If you go higher, things will look different; if you go lower, again they will look different. It is a point of view.” [Lipchitz, 1966]42

Hockney often photographs a scene, space or object while incrementally moving the camera, giving a sense that you were looking at the result of a sweeping gaze. While being in front and behind an object at the same time is strictly impossible, this relatively new representational technique has something in common with the human gaze and essentially with Euclid’s statement. Here, the boundaries between vision and visual perception are blurred, reality and its interpretation merge.

42 JacquesLipchitz(August22,1891-May16,1973)wasa Cubist sculptor. Quote from Jacques Lipchitz: the artist at work, by Bert Van Bork, Crown Publishers, 1966

23

v i s u a l p e r c e p t i o n

“Light has not only provided illumination and perception - it has placed us in a particular relationship with the sun and has contributed an essential element to architectural meaning” [Borys, 2004]43

The perception of space is perhaps our primary engagement with light. Beyond the complex, yet physical-bound nature of our eyes, is our faculty to perceive the visual, to interpret the image. Depth, texture and atmosphere are dimensional effects which light offers space. Such effects signal when rational space and emotive space coalesce.

“You have to take all the phenomena of light into account - the glow, the brilliance, the flickering, shadow and lots of other things besides” [Bohme, 2009]44

So important was the consideration of light in Scamozzi’s [16th century] buildings that to understand and ultimately utilise it more fully, he categorised it into six species;direct, perpendicular, horizontal, limited, secondary and minimal45 The gradients of variation between these species are infinitessimal and the categories themselveswere perhaps not new things in themselves, but the process of investigating how we perceive the subtle “wealth of nuanced chromatic values”46 of light encouraged a


44 GernotBohme,2009,GeometryofLight,HatjeCantzp69

45 Summarisedfrom“LumediLume:ATheoryofLight and its Effects” by Ann Marie Borys

46 LuigiFicacci,speakingaboutPiranesi’setchings,2001,GiovanniBattistaPiranesi:selectedEtchings,Taschen,p14

24

25

scientificframeworkforScamozzi’scontemporaries.

“I use light as my material process the medium of perception. I believe that feeling, perceiving, is a sensual act, an emotional act” [Turrell, 1993]47

When the human mind interprets light, as with visual perception, the investigation invariably branches across disciplines;architecture,psychology,physiologyandart.However even with such a broad front of research, the enigma of light remains. In a similar way to Scamozzi’s special descriptor of light, my own thesis is an attempts todefinitelight intermsof its illusionaryqualities,giventhe inherent relationship visual perception has with space and architecture.

47 JamesTurrell[1993]LichtalsMaterial,KunstforumInternational 121, as quoted in Geometry of Light, 2009

fig21 Sequence of eight photographs

during the etching process of

“Engine Room”. The black material

on the plate is tar or, bitumen. When

this zinc plate was submerged into

the copper sulfate acid solution,

the bitumen resisted etching. This

sequence shows the build up of the

reverse image of the print. See p87

for “a note on the etching process”

26

27

a n o t e o n t h e u s e o f p o r t m a n t e a u x

Lewis Carroll, when writing ‘Through the Looking Glass’ gave his characters the freedom of blending two words of their lexicon into one single word, with a combined meaning. Whilst throughout history this has been a common evolutionary process of the English language, Carroll’s naming of this type of word ‘portmanteau’ caught the imagination of his readers and is now a globally appreciated process in linguistics. Similar in kind to Carroll’s portmanteaux, Bruce Mau believes in the benefitofmakingnewwords:

“28. Make new words. Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.” [Mau, c. 1998]48

In order to explain certain juxtaposition of meanings, I have employed Carroll’s portmanteau device and Mau’s advice. The idea was prompted by an inadequate available lexicon to describe quite particular phenomenon. These portmanteau are primarily concern light, visual perception and representation.

New portmanteau are not necessary, or appropriate, for all of the following sections. Although in some cases, I have found they are needed.

48 BruceMau,anIncompleteManifestoforGrowth.Thismanifestohasbeenalargeinfluenceonmystudyofarchitecture,and my conversations about design. From http://www.brucemaudesign.com/#112942,accessed18/04/2010.

28

29

l u m i n a e s t h e s i a 4 9

see also

“the thingness of light” p10

“shadow” p47

(syn), “together,” and (aisthaesis), “sensation”a neurologically-based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway50

‘Light can be synaesthetically transformed into matter that can almost be touched, smelled or heard’ [Agostino De Rosa, 2009]51

There exists a strong, dual cognitive phenomenon that we experience with light and solid objects. The abstract, immaterial nature of this is inherently an extremely hard thing to describe. The common thread that links the two is, ironically, another metaphysical, intangible thing: space. Imagine, for instance, that shaft of light that beams through the dusty loft window - it occupies space, with geometric boundaries, in a way not dissimilar from your own body. And yet the illusion is realised when we pass our hand through this light - it is haptically transparent, it provides our body no resistance to force.

“There are some qualities, some incorporate things, that have a double life which thus is made a type of that twin entity which springs from matter and light” [Poe, circa. 1840]52

49 Portmanteau.Luminescence+synaesthesia.Seep94

50 Thisiswikipedia’sdefinitionof‘synaesthesia’-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaesthesia - accessed on 13.03.2010

51 AgostinoDeRosa,2009,GeometryofLight,HatjeCantz,p90

52 EdgarAllenPoeasquotedin:2000,Parallax,PrincetonArchitecturalPress,p104

fig22 Mysterious light. Photograph of

Melville Street studio, Perth. Light

filters deep into the heart of the

building, the source concealed two

levels above.

30

Poe makes an astonishing insight, no less than eighty years beforeEinsteinprovesthescientificrelationshipbetweenenergy [light] and matter. His description however is one of intuition and did not rely on scientific discoveries todetermine how he experienced phenomenon. What validates ‘luminaesthesia’ as a worthy description of spatial experience is that the scientific world unifiedelectromagnetic radiation and matter, with magnificentand suitably mind-warping theory: “Einstein said that mass actually bends space, like a heavy ball stretching a rubber sheet” [Serra, 2005]53

This ‘thingness’ of light isn’t a mere mis-categorization, or indeed a scientific folly, but the result of our ability tointerpret these spatial entities with the same neurological tools.

53 Serra,R.2005TheMatterofTime,Guggenheim,p20:quotingjohnguinn‘gravity+gravitation;einstein’sgeneralrelativity’

31

p r o x i m o g r a p h y 5 4

“-graphy a combining form denoting a process or form of drawing, writing, representing, recording, describing, etc., or an art or science concerned with such a process: biography; choreography; geography; orthography; photography.”

Let’s stop calling buildings ‘buildings’, and instead call them ‘depthographs’. Architects are concerned with depthography-albeitaunknownandfictitiousword. Ifarchitects are in any way involved in the manipulation of space, then any designed gesture in that space is depthography;drawingwith depth. Thus architects relyon the human senses to reveal their ‘depthograph’ in detail. And there is no better revealer of detail than light.

Our sense of depth is largely augmented by our visual perception. This augmentation is the result of a combination of faculties; having twoeyes,eyes that irregularly scanthe scene, eyes that focus at different distances and our capacity to usefully interpret this information give us an impressive perception of depth. But this gestalt instrument requires light, and not simply the presence of light but varying intensity, contrast, direction and surface [in other words, that which resists light]. Can our sense of space be subverted by certain lighting conditions? Artist James Turrell has experimented with this notion throughout his career.

“Ganzfeld: a visual field in which there is nothing for the eye to latch onto. Colour, brightness are homogenous and there is no surface or depth. Most of us have never experienced a

54 Portmanteau.Proximity+-graphy.Seep94

32

33

Ganzfeld since occurrences in the natural environment, such as arctic whiteouts, are rare” [Herbert, 1998]55

In certain pieces of his work [like in the art house project with Tadao Ando], Turrell has attempted to suppress all visual cues of spatial and object boundary. He achieves this by evenly lighting a simple space with rear projected, immaculately distributed light; “An abstract, retina-controlled, consciousness-forming act”56

The experience is said to be ‘strange’, the resulting dis/non-orientation confusing and at times uncomfortable. As stated already, Turrell found “often people reach out and try to touch it”, ‘It’ being the space where light suggests ‘thing’ . With true indeterminacy of depth, the boundary of space lies equally a millimetre in front of you, as it doesinfinitelyahead.Suchunnaturalandcounter-intuitiveexperiences are important explorations of light for the architect’scraft;itenablesthem“to have subjective visual experiences that link them in unique ways to the outside world, to their inner world, and to the art”57

In a related experiment, Robert Irwin, James Turrell and Ed Wortz got together to discuss how science and art could investigate the effects of sensory deprivation. To do this, they sat in an anechoic chamber58 for up to eight hours at a time. When exiting the chamber, their experience is

55 LynnHerbert[1998]SpiritandLightandtheImmensityWithin,inJamesTurrell:SpiritandLight,Houston;ContemporaryArtsMuseum

56 UrsulaSinnreich[2009]TheGeometryofLight:BetweenHeavenandEarth,HatjeCantzp41

57 Lbid.

58 “Ananechoicchamberisashieldedroomdesignedtoattenuatesound or electromagnetic energy”, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anechoic_chamber, accessed 29/03/2010

fig23 Photograph taken from peak of

Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh. The optical

power of the lens used to shoot this

picture is so low that our perception

of the distance between the people

in the foreground and Edinburgh’s

cityscape is compressed.

34

of heightened spatial awareness, orientation, depth and texture.

35

e x t r o p r o j e c t i o n 5 9

Another enigmatic facet to light is defined by ourintangible inter-actions with it. Extroprojection describes when the light source is turned towards a human, when our eyes are the screen to be projected on, and in turn, when our eyes are the projectors of image.

“With this chiasma of vision the viewer is transformed from passive receiver of the image into its active transmitter” [Islam, 2004]60

It seems important to acknowledge that our eyes don’t in reality produce or project light. However if we appreciate cerebral experience as something unbound by what is real and what is not, the illusion of a visual experience can give this effect. Runa Islam is an artist who, in an installation called ‘Stare Out/Blink’ used the idea allowing a viewer to gaze on a photo negative projection of a woman with her eyes wide open is shown. Every now and then this projectionisinterruptedwithabright,whiteflash,duringwhich a glimmer of the positive image remains on your retina like a vision, or a persistent after-image.

“It became a problem for me that my performance film Landscape for Fire was a document rather than an object... Line Describing a Cone emerged. It’s a film that exists only at the moment of projection” [McCall, 2007]61

59 Portmanteau.Extrospection+projection.Seep92

60 RunaIslam,2004.“StareOut/Blink”exhibitionasseen in Eclipse: towards the edge of the visible. White Cube, Hoxton. original author: Annushka Shani

61 Mccall, A. 2007,. Éléments pour une rétrospective.MonografikEditionsp54

36

37

Anthony McCall conceived this piece to disengage his work from the notion of a single aspect experience. Two aspects of this installation play with the nature of light andthehumancondition;thedualroleofthevisitorasthespectator and their role as participant, as they interact with the projection and a transformational gesture of moving blades of light. Important to appreciate in McCall’s work is his reinterpretation of cinema. In his own words, McCall said Line Describing a Cone was “...an attempt to deconstruct the cinematographic medium, a gesture aimed at analysing its principle components: time and light’ [McCall, 2007]62

Described as “a piece of high-tech phenomenology”63 this installation celebrated the complexity of each moment of ephemeralexperience;theviewers’interactionwithlightwas unique to their position in the room, moment of view and your state of motion.

“If we define art as part of the realm of experience, we can assume that after a viewer looks at a piece, he ‘leaves’ with the art, because the ‘art’ has to be experienced” [Turrell, 1968]64

As a means of testing and representing the intangible qualities of light, Arthor Zajonc devised an experiment and public exhibition, entitled “Project Eureka”. The set up wassimple;“...A carefully fabricated box and a powerful projector whose light shines directly into it”. When one looks into the box through a view port, absolute darkness

62 Mccall, A. 2007,. Éléments pour une rétrospective.MonografikEditionsp14

63 Matt Saunders, February 2009, Artforum: Notation: Circulationandforminthearts,p184

64 Turrell,J.[2009]GeometryofLight,HatjeCantz,p90

fig24 Inside a DIY Camera Obscura.

This photograph was taken inside

my purpose-built room made

of black-out material, with an

aperture to allow light through. The

resultingconfigurationwasactedas

a camera obscura. The sensation of

light coming towards you can be

experienced with rear projection.

38

39

stares back - and yet at this point one is certain that an intense beam of light is being projected before one’s eyes. The exhibited paradox is a powerful one, if somewhat obvious;wecan’t see this substancecalled light,yetweneed it to see.

fig25 Photograph of a planetariums

projector, from Dundee’s

observatory. The spherical aspect

of this mysterious looking machine

allows the light projecting from

inside to cover a wide ‘field of

view’;asortoflivephoto-collage.

40

41

a b s o l u t e b l a c k

“There is never no light... even when all the light is gone, you can still sense light” [Turrell, 1992]65

‘Black’, in common use, is a subjective thing. There does not exist two blacks. True black is an ideal. It can be mathematically proven to exist, astronomers predict its location in deep outer space [although this has been disproved], but on earth, we have never experienced it.

Black is nothing. The physical limits of my eyes do not determine the value of black. It is a true universal constant: the complete absence of electromagnetic radiation in all its forms. Black as a colour is a largely misconceived notion.66

And yet black plays an important role in my drawing. I represent black, with the intention to make a viewer aware of the unaware-able, and consequently conscious of the paradox they are taking part in. Some of my drawings use a palette of tones to represent a range of blacks, however impossible that should be, in order that depthofspaceintheimageisbarelyperceivable;or,onthe edge of vision.

Recently N.A.S.A. commissioned a photographer to curate anexhibitionfromthearchivefilmnegativesofallApollo

65 FromaninterviewwithJamesTurrellandAlisionSarahJacquesinJamesTurrell:PerceptualCells,KunstvereinfurdieRheinlandeundWestfalen,Dusseldorf,1992p56

66 JustasInuitshaveseveralwordsforsnow;arangenotavailableintheEnglishlangauge;Iwonderwhetherincountriesof‘whitenights’or24hourdaysandnights,dothey have similarly many words for light or black?

fig26 BLACK 55985.My experience

with printmaking brings me close to

all tones of black. This particular

black ink produces a slightly

warmer black in the print.

42

flightmissions.Thephotographer’screativeinstinctwastocomplain that the deepness and expansiveness of space wouldn’t be represented well by existing ‘black’ inks, N.A.S.A. gave the go ahead to develop a new ink, much more richly black than anything previous. Calling it ‘Luna Nero,’thisistheleastreflectiveinkknown.

In certain fields of research the hunt for the absoluteblack is gaining a lot of attention. The development of meta-materials, made from carbon nano-tubes traps light unlike anything other material. “All the light that goes in is basically absorbed,” says Professor Pulickel Ajayan. “It is almost pushing the limit of how much light can be absorbed into one material.”67 The material Ajayan is involved in synthesising is almost thirty times darker than the current international standard benchmark of blackness. It is close to this idea of absolute black, which could absorb all coloursoflightandreflectnone.68

67 Pulickel Ajayan, as quoted from http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/01/16/2139711.htm,accessed18/04/2010.

68 Thesubstancehasatotalreflectiveindexof0.045%,whichismore than three times darker than the nickel-phosphorous alloy that now holds the record as the world’s darkest material. Basic blackpaint,bycomparison,hasareflectiveindexof5%to10%.

43

s c o t o p i a 6 9

see also

“vision” p19

“the solaris vignettes” p61

“pi : scotopia” p69

“Darkness is not the mere absence of light; it has some positive quality. Whereas bright space disappears, giving way to the material concreteness of objects, darkness is “thick”; it directly touches a person... The feeling of mystery we experience at night probably stems from this.” [Caillois, 1935]70

Scotopia is vision in dim light. See p95. When investigating light, it quickly becomes apparent that the term ‘light’ is an unsatisfactorydescriptor; it bringsan incomplete setof connotations. For instance, in this essay, when I am not speaking about the actual substance of light, I am using it as a gauge - light/less light/no light. In this case I am using the term ‘light’ in a very broad sense to mean light and darkness. I have come to argue that brightness and darkness are not separate states, but the same condition in space perceived from opposite reference points. On becomes off, black becomes white, and the solid object gives up the space it occupied.

”...architecture becomes visible not simply by its existence in light but in the creation of a penumbral zone between darkness and light” [Borys, 2004]71

69 Portmanteau. Scotos + -opia. Scotopia is a portmanteau that pre-existsmystudy,whichmeans‘visionindimlight’.Seep95

70 Caillois,R[1935],TheEdgeofSurrealism:aRogerCaillois reader,, Duke University Press, p101


44

45

The importance of darkness in our everyday lives is undervalued. “Darkness is a precondition of seeing something. i.e. that there are such things as definition, articulation and determinateness” [Bohme, 2009]72 Bohme makes a point about the literal and aesthetic necessity of darkness in our vision and perception of space.

The role ofdarkness can seemundefined in today’s24hour culture. Urban zones are lit day and night, forests of isolated street lamps73 glow ground and sky alike. It is well noted that light pollution in our cities endanger migrating birds’ journey, confusing and disorientating them. Darkness is a natural occurrence, ‘a state of place’ common in every part of the world, yet it remains somewhat mysterious.

An interesting thing occurs when you consider darkness ashavingamaterialquality;itbecomesdense,capableof weighing against you. Similar to ‘Luminaesthesia,’ this unreal haptic sense conjures complex relationships in our consciousness between the conceptual notions of luminescence and solidity.

Perhaps this mysterious yet fundamental sensation holds an explanation for our fascination with broader unsolved questions; such as those concerning infinity, space anddreams, not to mention their esoteric counterparts like particle physics, anatomy of the brain, spiritual healing et al.

72 Gernot Bohme, [2009] Geometry of Light, Hatje Cantz, p72

73 “Urban street lighting is now taken for granted in many parts of the world. Its significance is not immediately apparent to everyone any longer, “it is just there” [...] The new, permanent illumination of 200 years ago enabled citizens to use exterior spaces at night [...] Lanterns were destroyed during the riots in Paris, Berlin and Vienna [...] Public lighting was regarded as a key instrument in the system of domination” [Ulrike Brandi, 2007, Light for Cities: lightingdesignforurbanspaces,ahandbook,Springer,p150]

fig27 Ballgay Hill, Dundee

Observatory. Long exposure

photograph. Shutter open for 15

seconds. When I took this picture, I

could see nothing around me, only

the dim rectangular light on the side

of the observatory

46

47

s h a d o w

see also

“lumière mystérieuse” p06

Shadows deserve a unique categorization, albeit within the broader subject of darkness and, therefore, shade. A ‘shadow’ suggestsaplacementona surface,adefiningcontrast of luminescence and a source of shade and light. These prerequisites of shadow are strong devices for suggestingnarrative infieldsofvisualartandstorytelling: “It is only through light and shadow that architecture acquires shape” [Flagge, 2002]74

Shadows are often attributed anthropomorphic qualities. The nature of shadow, being of dark substance, an effect of the eye, can excite your imagination. Indeterminacy and ambiguity of shapes are tools for illusion and distortion. “Shadows of people are both part of them and separate, perhaps the outermost visual boundary of someone, giving a likeness but more usually a distortion.” [Broadhead, 2010]75

A shadow is both silhouette and boundary in space. In commonuse,werefertothedarkshapeonthefloor,asour shadow, when in fact it is a dynamic three-dimensional form, whose rate of change is inperceivably fast [the speed of light: 3x108m/s].

74 IngeborgFlagge,2002,ThesecretofShadow:Lightand Shadow in Architecture, Wasmuth, Berlin

75 CarolineBoradhead,fromaninterviewaboutherdesignofadressthat casts shadows - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/gallery2/caroline_broadheadrev2.shtml - accessed 13.01.2010

fig28 How we read objects, is

partially informed by the objects

shadow. Here, a table in plan view

is given the impression of being off

the ground because of the legs of

shadow it casts

48

49

“What I discovered was shadow isn’t just a line on the wall, but it’s really a volume in space” [Kegan, 2009]76

This counter-intuitive aspect of darkness reminds me of the ‘transparency of light.’ It is disturbing to think of how little ourcultureachieveswithafluidcommodity likeshadow.One only has to glance towards past cultures of Babylon andEgypttoseehowshadowcouldbeused;forinstancesuch things as sundials and gnomons could transform sunlight into a reading of the time.

76 Kegan,Larry,anartistworkingwithillusionaryformsandshadow.Unfortunately the source of this quote is unknown, despite effort to locate it. I’ve kept the quote in due to its general nature and that I’m not basing any large assumption on its content.

fig29 left. Presentation wall at start

of the year. The role of shadow

in our perception of objects was

something I was looking into at that

time. The drawings and prints are

separated from the wall so that

they are given the feel of objects,

not merely two dimensional plains.

fig30 right. Warped shadow goes

around corners. a play on the basis

that light only travels in straight

lines. recently, ‘gravitational

lensing’ has proven otherwise

50

51

52

t r a n s a p p a r i t i o n 7 7

see also

“preface” pvii

“luminaesthesia” p29

“Nothing disappears completely, however; nor can what subsists be defined solely in terms of traces, memories or relics... In space, what came earlier continues to underpin what follows” [Lefebvre, 1991]78

The namesake of my thesis is quoted from Henri Lefebvre, a French philosopher. For me, this space he speaks of is a notion of transapparition - the phenomena of being and un-being, visible and invisible. In everyday life, the image before us is often endowed with “...bold chromatic contrasts of light and shadow that exert a psychological impact on the viewer.”79 Our sight, however, is capable of observing much more complex situations, when something disappears.

“...works that cross borders into different realms, opening up the in-between spaces where shadows fall between, visible and invisible, the image and its undoing, the mark and its erasure, the action and its trace” [Shani, 2004]80

Transapparition describes appearance-in-flux. I havefound this to be one of the most intriguing phenomenon of light - the limit of seeing. It almost takes a conscious effort

77 Portmanteau. Transformation + apparition. See p90

78 Lefebvre, H, 1991, The Production of Space, Wiley-Blackwell p229

79 Luigi Ficacci, speaking about Piranesi’s etchings, 2001, Giovanni Battista Piranesi: selected Etchings, Taschen, p11

80 AnnushkaShani.2004.Eclipse:towardstheedgeofthevisible.WhiteCube,Hoxtonp49

fig31 [spread on previous page]

Lamplight and Twilight. Sources of

light can tell us three fundamental

things, that there are radiating

bodies in the universe; that there

are bodies which don’t radiate and

that there are transparent things.

53

to reconcile that when an electric light is switched off, and aroombecomespitchblack,theobjectswhichfilledtheroom are still there. However, I could equally say that in a metaphysical state they have, by all record of my senses, ceased to exist.

“Now there clearly is something which is transparent, and by ‘transparent’ I mean what is visible, and yet not visible in itself, but rather owing its visibility to the colour of something else; of this character are air, water and many other solid bodies” [Aristotle, circa. 350 BC]81

As with all of the phenomena of light which I associate together here, transapparition isn’t a trick of the eye or cheap illusion. It is a reflection of the human condition,psychological and physiological, and thus is timeless. Aristotle was preoccupied by what he could not see, and yet he had the foresight to name this invisible category of things. This intuitive move on Aristotle’s part, paved the way for future philosophers to ponder the substance of dark matter:

“Since dark space enfolds me from all sides, and penetrates me much more deeply than does bright space, the role played by the inner/outer distinction and thus by the sensory organs as well [insofar as they enable external perception] is quite minimal” [Minkowski, 1933]82

81 Aristotle,OnTheSoul,KessingerPublishing2004,p34

82 Minkowski, Eugene,1933 études phénoménologiques et psychopathologiques, Collection de l’évolution psychiatrique, quoted in Roger Caillois book

54

55

e y e o b s c u r a

see also

“optics” p15

“vision” p19

It is important to note that the eye and the camera are strikingly similar, no matter how rhetorical the statement may seem. They are of course both instruments for viewing the world, they both have are light sensitive and an can both manipulate light in some varying manner. But they alsoshareparticularconditionsthat,atfirst,mightseemanuisance, vis-à-vis distortion.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” [Nin, 1934]83

My investigation into light’s illusions has often led me back to the camera - to take a photograph of a drawing or model and a I can’t help but observe the discrepancy between what I see and what my camera see’s. It goes without saying that the human brain doesn’t simply absorb visual images - it compares, associates, augments, interprets everything we see. We do not see objectively, essentially we are the makers of our own illusions on a second by second basis. It seems as architects we are trained in the art of visual stimulus: “The architecture of our time is turning into the retinal art of the eye. architecture at large has become an art of the printed image fixed by the hurried eye of the camera” [Pallasmaa, 1994]84

83 AnaisNin,1934,TheDiaryofAnaisNin:1931-1934,SwallowPress

84 JuhaniPallasmaa,[anarchitectureofthesevensenses;retinal architecture and the loss of plasticity] as quote byToshioNakamura,1994,QuestionsofPerception:phenomenology of architecture, a+u publishing, Tokyo

fig32 Self-made camera obscura.

View from the Material Unit studio.

Light converged throughmy 24mm

camera lens onto a sheet of paper

56

The camera creates its own illusions also. Objective as cameras may seem, they are powerful and precise manipulators of image; field of view, depth of field,aperture,shutterspeedandflash.Thelevelsatwhichtheoperatorcanfinely tuneacamera,and thus the subjectof view, is incredibly complex, it is assumable that this is why the camera has given birth to a much celebrated art. “Photography, it is said, is writing with light,”85

“Architecture, camera and shadow share common features here: geometry and perspective ... photographs are nothing other than fleeting traces of light and shadow, fixed on paper as images” [Flagge, 2002]86

If we accept these particular limitations and distortions, then you can begin to draw outwith these preconceived readings the world. Is perspective, itself, is an illusion?

85 AndreLaude,1989,Weegee,ThamesandHudson,London

86 A catalogue of the shadow exhibition in Germany which was trying to re-educate about the appreciation of shadows in architecture, Ingeborg Flagge, 2002, The secret of Shadow: Light and Shadow in Architecture, Wasmuth, Berlin

57

58

59

t h e s o l a r i s p r o j e c t

A design proposition forms a major piece of this thesis. The Solaris Project is the application and testing of the research thus far presented in this book.87

My design proposal is essentially a monumental optical instrument, carved into the side of a mountain. Somewhere between astronomical observatory and epic cinema theatre,theformandfunctionofthisdesignisfinelytunedto a rare total solar eclipse.88

Part of the intention with this project is to explore the periphery of our vision. This encompasses not just our fieldofview,butalsothelimitsofluminescentperception,ideas of pure white and absolute black and our ability to project image, as well as receive.

Part of the intention with this project is to bring into closerelationship thescalesatwhich lightaffectsus;onone hand, the sun illuminates over half our planet with a blinding 90,000 lux from 149,600,000,000 metres,whereas the human eye can adapt to use just 1 lux of light, as from the full moon close to the equator.

“We three [Turrell, Irwin, and Wortz] are becoming

87 Preexisting the conception of the Solaris Project was a series ofetchingstudiesIexperimentedwith.Thesefivestudieslooked into various aspects of light, with deliberate references to cinematic representation and narrative. Over the next fivepagespreadsIhaveshowntheresultingprints.

88 This particular Total Solar Eclipse occurs in 2186, on 16th July, at 08:57inColumbia,SouthAmerica.Thesignificanceofthiseclipse,and the reason I have chosen it to tune my project to, is that it is the longesttheoreticaleclipsethatwilloccuronEarthfor5millennia.

fig33 ‘Claustrophobia’, etched

aquatint print. The source of the

light is out of frame but the incident

light on the wall suggests the source

of light is behind a doorway.

The different planes of surface

in this depicted room are barely

discernible in the pitch-blackness of

space. The illusion here is that the

doorway is smaller that the man.

With measured drawings I found

thatthemanwouldnotbeabletofit

through this opening. Is he trapped?

60

61

intranauts exploring inner space instead of outer space” [Turrell, 1969]89

Turrell’s ‘intranauts’ are analogous with the introspective natureofthisdesignproject.InonesensethefilmSolarisis about our perception of illusion, seeing things we can’t easily explain. And so my design tries to work on a level of consciousness with the viewer, or, intranaut. With this intended inward engagement, it then becomes the intranaut, and their ‘seeing’ that provides the narrative in the architectural representation.

“How would the painter or poet express anything other than his encounter with the world?” [Maurice Merleau-Ponty] “...How could an architect do otherwise, we might ask with equal justification” [Juhani Pallasmaa]90

The methodology employed for this design was initially guided by a series of intuitive decisions. The methodology involves a particular interchange between intuition and logic - mirrored in this design by the consideration of atmosphere and measurement.

In these spaces, the ‘feel’ of lighting in a place is coupled with its existence as a plot device. The mood of a scene is cross-referencedwithanaspectof thehumancondition;like perception, illusion or dark adaptation. In part, the concept of an atmospheric and obscure design is a result of my interests in representation, and “the mytho-poetic basis of architecture.”91 See pvii

89 As cited in William Wilson, “Two California Artists Are Busy Exploring Inner Space,” in the Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1969, section D, p2

90 Pallasmaa, quoting philosopher Merleau-Ponty omEncounters:ArchitecturalEssays,2005]

91 Juhani Pallasmaa [2000] Encounters: architectural essays: StairwaysoftheMind,RakennustietoOy,p59

fig34 left. ‘Obelisk on a Horizon’. A

stream of light projects across the

floorfromaoblongopening in the

far wall. Is this in the same room as

in ‘Claustrophobia’? Is it possible for

thefigure’s tophalfofhisbodyto

be illuminated? If so, there must be

a second, unseen light source. This

etching lends an aesthetic and sense

of scale reminiscent of 2001:A

Space Odyssey.

fig35 right. Proposed scheme for

Mount Tindaya by the late Eduardo

Chillida. The monument is both

sculpture and device; a working

instrument of art.

62

63

t h e s o l a r i s p l a t e s

see also

“a note on the etching process” p87

“lumière mystérieuse” p06

“At the turn of the millennium, the great challenge for architects is the re-sensualization, re-mythologization, and re-poetization”92

WHAT ARE THE SOLARIS PLATES REALLY?

Drawing and research, I have found, can come to represent each other. As part of the Solaris Project, and to experiment with modes of representation, I have worked towards producing a series of etching prints. The prints and their plates, illustrate those illusionary phenomenon of lightwhichformasignificantportionofmyresearch.Collectively, I will refer to these prints are the Solaris Plates.

The etching process lent both a particular representational aesthetic and a framework for developing the design.

Amongst architects, my inspiration has come from the French Classical romanticist Etienne-Luis Boullee, the visionary paintings of John Soane’s partner Joseph Gandy, and the writings of Peter Zumthor. My attention, however, has been drawn to those visionaries less bound by pragmatic architectures, such as Piranesi, Jorge Luis Borges,StanleyKubrickandAndreiTarkovsky.Whateachoftheseinfluencesofminehaveincommonistheirhugely

92 Juhani Pallasmaa [2000] Encounters: architectural essays: Stairways of the Mind, Rakennustieto Oy, p61

fig36 ‘The last eclipse’. Just within the

confinesofthelightafigurestands,

casting his elongated shadow

towards the camera/viewer. Is

that a ceiling or simply the sky

beyond? Does this wall extend ad

infinitum? This plate is a reference

to the solar eclipse imagery, which I

investigated during early stages of

my research.

64

65

successful ability to tell a story. I argue that architecture and story telling are inextricable things. See p77

“My work is more about your seeing than it is about my seeing, although it is a product of my seeing” [Turrell, 1981]93

“Producing inner images is a natural process common to everyone. it is part of thinking” [Zumthor, 1998]94

With the Solaris Plates, the viewer of the print should feel like becoming the occupant of the imagined space. Turrell and Zumthor speak about perception and images, and I took a cue from them to experiment with a form of representation. Strictly avoiding ‘classical perspective’ in my drawings, I have tried to give the effect of a sweeping gaze, or perhaps as though we are looking through an impossible optical lens, irrespective of how irrational the scene seems. As mentioned at the beginning of this book, there is an element of the Cubist approach to drawing here;amultiplicityofviewpoints.

This process resulted in a series of images with a representation of space that hadn’t been anticipated. Unlike some Cubist paintings, the Solaris Plates’ multiple viewpoint perspectives are put to a pragmatic95 as well as atmospheric use. In Scotopia this gives an aspect of an elongatedspace;inTrajan’sSeat,thisallowstheviewerto

93 James Turrell, quoted in Craig Adcock, “Light, Space, Time: The visual Parameters of Roden Crater,” in Julia Brown, Occluded Front: James Turrell, exh. cat. Museum of Contemporary Art [Los Angeles, 1981], p102

94 PeterZumthor,1998,ThinkingArchitecture,Princeton Architectural Press p67

95 “ThegoalIproposedmyselfinmakingcubism?Topaintandnothing more... with a method linked only to my thought... Neitherthegoodnorthetrue;neithertheusefulnortheuseless”[Picasso,1972] Picasso on art: a selection of views, Viking Press

fig37 ‘Edge detail’. Aperture and

projection were the points of interest

behindthisplate.Again, thefigure

is isolated, perhaps imprisoned. The

figure’s shadow seems to have its

own character, disobeying the rules

of nature - or perhaps this is just

another trick of the eye.

66

67

see around corners, in a useful, informative way.

The apparent position of the ‘camera’ or voyeur in the Solaris Plates became an important consideration as the project developed. As an unavoidably direct connection to the narration of a scene or space, the eye of the camera influencedthedesignofasceneorspace.

At around the same time as this methodology was taking shape,IbeganworkingonashortfilmcalledBlackMill.The development of the design process, with the Solaris Plates, inspired an approach to the filming techniquesusedinledtoanapproachforfilmingmyshortfilm,BlackMill.See“anoteonthefilmingofblackmill”p81

While the Solaris Plates are not a complete series of prints, the next section looks at those which have been produced to date. The aim of this section is to set up a particular reading of the printed plates. In the context of their conception, the intended mood and references explain some aspect of atmosphere, with which words can not seem to describe.

fig38 ‘0 gravity, why have you

forsaken me’. Below a hovering

form, light is projected and

illuminates the lower surface. There

is a figure, falling towards this lit

surface. The hovering form seems

to be rectangular in horizontal

section, with an imperceptibly thin

edge.Isthatfigurealive?Ifso,why

is the body on its side rather than

falling upright? What is holding up

this large form? Could this event

be caused by the floor dropping

awayratherthanthefigurefalling?

Perhaps the figure is moving

upwards. The barely discernible

form, which dominates the upper

part of the print is the result of many

long hours finely tuning different

tones of black. The intention was to

achieve a mysterious sense of depth

with three tones of black.

68

69

p i : s c o t o p i a

see also

“scotopia” p43

“All hope abandon, ye who enter here” [Dante c.1315]96

“Is is conceivable that our stairs could once again reawaken our awareness of Heaven and Hell?”

“ Deep shadows and darkness are essential, because they dim the sharpness of vision, make depth and distance ambiguous, and invite unconscious peripheral vision and tactile fantasy “ [Pallasmaa, 2005]97

This is the first Solaris Plate, intended to depict theentrance to my design. The drawing, etching and printing of this plate was one of the first steps in the SolarisProject’s design.

The space depicted in this place relates to the idea of scotopic vision, or dark adaptation of the human eye. The length of time is takes the human eye to fully adapt to optimal dark conditions is between 20-40 minutes.Notionally this space is designed to take42minutes, ifwalked without rest.

This entrance is a slight parallel to that of a conventional cinema, where dim lights prepare your eyes for the dark experience of the screen room.

96 Inscription over the gate of Hell. Dante Alighieri wrote this allegorical epic poem between 1306 and 1321. from Dante’s The Divine Comedy, 1867 trans. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,Tricknor and Fields, 1867

97 The Eyes of the skin : Architecture and the senses, JuhaniPallasmaa,JohnWiley&SonsLtd,2005

fig39 ‘Scotopia’

42minutes

length of time it takes to walk down

this vestibule

2800

number of steps in the stairwell

448metres

depth of shaft

10.6 metres

width of shaft

40metres

breadth at opening

452.2metres

breadth at base

23

steps per run

7.4metres

height between level pairs

300mm

run

160mm

rise

76˚

angle of inclination of shaft

70

71

p i i : t r a j a n ’ s s e a t

“Only a weak light glimmers, like a tiny point in an enormous circle of blackness... doubtful whether the light might not itself be a dream, and the circle of blackness, reality.” [Kandinsky, 1912]98

“I wandered up the stairs, of and along the pavements of the inextricable palace (afterwards I learned that the width and the height of the steps were not constant, a fact which made me understand the singular fatigue they produced)” [Borges, 1962]99

“Together with the door, the stair is that element of architecture that is encountered most concretely and directly by the body. As we ascend or descend a stair, our step measures its dimensions and our hand caresses the smooth surface of the banisters” [Pallasmaa, 2005]100

Trajan’s column, Rome, has a staircase spiralling up through its core. The idea of trying to depict this claustrophobic space was challenging. The solution I found was to unwrap the space, dissolve the walls where necessary and give the impression of being able to see around corners. The large areasofblackinkshroudtheedgesofthestepsandwall;it’s left up to the viewer if they position themselves in the staircase or looking through the wall. This staircase leads to the seat, from which one views Solaris.

98 WassilyKandinsky,painterandarttheorist,thoughttobethe an origin of abstract art. worked in the Bauhaus until Nazi’s closed it. As quoted in Catching the Light, p128

99 Jorge Luis Borges [1962] Labyrinths: selected stories & other writings, New Directions, p110

100 The Eyes of The Skin: Archi!echlre and the Senses, luhani PallaslTt1a,GBWiley-Academy,JohnWiley&SonsLtd,2005

fig40 ‘Trajan’s Seat’

72

73

p i i i : e n g i n e r o o m

“Light is a fundamental precondition for perceiving space: it is therefore difficult to isolate a discussion of its representational value” [Borys 2004]101

The engine room is were the angle and intensity of direct sunlight is measured, before it reaches the projector. It is essentially a maintenance room, accessed only by the resident projectionist. Each vent is calculated to point directly at the sun for five minutes, reaching up to thesurface of the mountain.

The width is determined by the a goal of achieving a minimum lux level of 200 lux on the screen projecting Solaris. The length is determined by the arc of the sun, overaperiodof5minutes,inrelationtothedepthoftheshaft. The film is 165minutes long, therefore 33 shaftswere required.

The proportion of the width to the length relates to the aspectratiooftheoriginal35mmfilmofSolaris;2.35:1.This ensures an economic use of sunlight, and lends the building an aesthetic of proportions.


fig41 ‘Engine Room’

74

75

p i v : r o o m 5 5 9 8 5

p v : e s c a p e h a t c h

The two above mentioned plates are in the process of being etched.

Chamber55985 is the room inwhichSolaris isplayed.It consists of a vast, part-spherical, volume of space, in which Trajan’s Seat is centrally positioned. The film isprojected onto a section of wall, curved like the inside of anincompletesphere.Asthefilmprogresses,theprojectiontravelsacrossthescreen,reflectingthemovementofthesun.

Escape Hatch is the building’s exit. It is a relatively quick exit,comparedtothe42minute-longentrance.Thistakesthe form of a tunnel, taking advantage of the topography of the mountain, and simply leading the viewer outside but at a much lower level. The concept here was to mimic that opposite effect of dark adaptation, although it only requires a minute for ones eyes to adjust. Escape Hatch is also a reference to when one goes to the cinema during the day, only to come out and be surprised and disorientated by the daylight.

fig42 ‘Room55985’. This print is a

work in progress.

76

77

n a r r a t i o n a n d t h e l e n s

On a necessary level, representation and story telling are both concerned with communicating ideas. Architects engage the idea of representation as a fundamental means of communicating concept and design. Therefore I’m inclined to argue that architecture and storytelling are inseparable things.

Unfortunately, this connection seems to have been misconceived, and hence undervalued, in my architectural education. I therefore wish to clarify narration’s position in architecture.

narrate–verb1. to give an account or tell the story of;2. to relate or recount events, experiences, etc.,102

Narration in architectural representation is how our ideas relate to the viewer. The narration and the means of representation should be co-considered in some sensitive manner. This can be seen in the works of Giovanni Piranesi, Lebbeus Woods and Steven Holl. The success of this methodology is displayed, with great effect, in Piranesi’s Prison etchings. These massive underground prison scenes engage my imagination, as they haunt and intrigue me in equal measures. The harsh marks left by Piranesi, during the intaglio process is a deliberate device, to be interpreted as a symbol of violence and desperation in the world of the drawing.

In the Solaris Plates, the viewer initially assumes the

102 ‘Narration’definition;seep93

fig43 joiner of the print studio. this was

a base of operations for my weeks

spent etching. this type of joiner was

an experiment with changing point

of views, following lines/objects of

interest. the traditional approach

of bottom-weighted panorama was

suppressed. in photograph: bed

press in foreground.

78

79

position of ‘camera,’ as if viewed through some sort of lens. In a manner of speaking, the drawing was drawn through that same, or similar lens, as the viewer perceives. This organic-esque perspective would not likely sit well with those Renaissance masters, given the strictures of perspective drawings at the time: “Perspective would be nothing without architecture and the architect nothing without perspective” [Serio, 1537]103

Narrative in drawing can engage the viewer in a dialogue. If drawings ask questions, then narration is the ability to ask the viewer a question that is relative to that viewer.

The Solaris Plates attempt this by employing an intuitive, albeit irrational, perspective, being spatially and atmospherically descriptive, by providing a human scale and allowing the viewer to assume a depicted figure’spositioninthatfictionalspace.

103 SebastianoSerlio[1537]OnArchitecture,HartandHicks,trans. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996, p37

80

81

a n o t e o n t h e f i l m i n g o f b l a c k m i l l

“Absolute space is located nowhere... and that of mental space, magically [imaginarily] cut off from the spatial realm, where the consciousness of the ‘subject’ - or ‘self-consciousness’ - takes form.” [Lefebvre, 1991]104

Film and architecture both deal with “mental space” and its relationship to the “spatial realm.” With this in mind, and through a deep interest in cinematography, myself, together with Stephen Mackie, a fellow student, embarked on an inter-unit collaborative film project. Inrelationtomythesis,thepurposeoftheshort-filmwastoexperiment and document the illusionary effects of visual perception, in an actual location.

Twoself-imposedrestrictionsonthefilm-makingweresetoutfromthebeginning.Thefirstdictatedthatonlynaturalandincidentallightwasallowedtobeusedduringfilming.The second rule included that visual effect could only be created using in-situ ‘optical instruments’ to alter the light.

Theaesthetic ‘look’ of thefilmwas largelyaffectedbythese two conditions, producing atmospheric imagery and perhaps a ‘truer’ sense of light of a place. Other representational techniques played an important role in this film also; with the ideas of photo-collage beingtranslated into video-collage; stop-motion animationmixedwithlive-actionvideo;andaseriesofshotswhichdissolvedthemill’swallsandfloors-allowingthecamera

104 Lefebvre,H,1991,TheProductionofSpace,Wiley-Blackwellp236

fig44 top. Film still. Video collage of

rear of the Black Mill.

fig45 below. Poster announcing

the Premiere of Black Mill, the

collaborative project between

fellow student Stephen Mackie and

myself. The Premiere was an open

invite.

82

83

to seemingly section freely through the building.

Natural and incidental light.This building is an optical instrument. The Black Mill plays withlightinmuchinthesamewaytheSolarisProjectdoes;thewindowsareapertures;theconfineddustacts likealens;theshinywallsarelikemirrors.Whatisimmediatelyapparentafterviewingthisfilm,isthat‘atmosphere,’ora‘mood’ of place, can be successfully represented through themediumoffilm.Throughstrictlyusingonlynaturalandincidental light, the atmosphere presented is something quite true to a sense of place. This then becomes an important aspect to my own research due to the fact that I deal with a fictional site with equally fictionalsite conditions. Although it seems obvious, this restriction proved that light can be mysterious without the necessity of imagined conditions.

Optical instruments. Inthemakingofthisfilmseveralobjectsthatmanipulatelight were used; a lens, a pin-hole camera, a mirror,the reflectionoff shinywallsanddust in theair. Strictlyspeaking, some of these listed objects are not optical instruments in themselves. However through the discovery of this building I became aware of the more subtle nuanceswithwhichobjectscouldinfluencelight’spath.Theopticalinstrumentsusedinthisfilmessentiallyrepresentedan experimental endeavour; the exploration of opticalmanipulation.

Godard once said, “All good fiction is documentary and all good documentary is fiction”105 The visual experience of

105 Jean-LucGodard,b.1930,isaFrenchandSwissfilmmakerand one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague, or “French New Wave”. quote: source unknown

fig46 top. Film still. Light entering the

doorway is caught in the dusty air.

Light becomes an ‘almost-tactile’

thing.

fig47 below. Film Still. Video collage

of the spiral staircase.

84

85

the‘BlackMill’filmisdesignedtogiveasenseofapastvision of the future, similar in genre to the Solaris Project. Inspiredbytwentiethcenturyfilmnoir,thefilmfollowstheexploration of a dilapidated, abandoned mill building on the edge of Dundee City centre. This is a detective story.

“The imagination and daydreaming are stimulated by dim light and shadow. In order to think clearly, the sharpness of vision has to be suppressed, for thoughts travel with an absent-minded and unfocused gaze. ‘”[Pallasmaa, 2005]106

This is a detective story. A detective is asked to investigate a disturbance in an abandoned building. The detective is surehewill find some ‘junkies’ squatting in thebuilding,although, the longer he remains in the building, the less sure of anything he becomes. The stories climax occurs in a flurrytothetopfloorofthebuilding,whereaconfrontationbetween the detective and an antagonist ensues.

“As the dark space obscures the distinction between inside and outside, and provokes an impulsion toward a loss of subject, one may confront the pure and direct experience through architecture” [Han, 2009]107

In this film project, each scenewas considered in orderto take advantage of those angles which produced high contrast, or depth of focus, dictated by that particular space in the mill. Often, the architecture of the old mill building, with all its beautiful, deep-set windows and deep floor plans, compounded the sense of experiencewhich the building provides.

106 The Eyes of The Skin: Architecture and the Senses, Juhani Pallasmaa,GBWiley-Academy,JohnWiley&SonsLtd,2005

107 Chooyan Han [2009] Dimension 22:Visceral Sensation in theSpaceofDeath,UniversityofMichiganPress,p15

fig48 top. Film still. Pinhole camera

was placed in front of the video

camera. This gave the video a

dreamlike quality.

fig49 below. Film still. Video collage

of the main staircase. Another

exploration of the idea of seeing

up and down at the same moment.

86

87

a n o t e o n t h e e t c h i n g p r o c e s s

See p25 for a sequence of images from the etching process.

Throughout the year, this course of research has been accompanied and informed by my interest in intaglio etching, and more broadly speaking, print-making in general. As this thesis has developed, the importance of representing the idea’s explored has become greater also. Using etching, and the process of drawing that leads to an etching plate, has set out for me a framework for representing the idea’s contained in the subject of light.

When learning how to etch it seems one has to re-learn how to draw. With inverted tones, mirror images and a reverse sequence of drawing [dark to light], every move on the metal etching plate needs to be carefully considered.

The etching process uses metal plates, cut to size, to print onto wet paper. Metals used to make prints for this thesis have been copper, zinc and steel. Each of these mediums havespecificqualitiesandcharacteristicsandeachhavetheir own chemicals with which to erode the surface.

These metal plates are resistive mediums to work with, especially considering the effortless mark-making performed when drawing pencil on paper. At virtually every stage of the process, the metals seem to oppose your act of drawing and engages the hand in a tactile

fig50 The print rack in the print

studio. This rack is used to air, dry

and keep separate prints that use

wet ink or wet paper. In the print

studio, a sense of community is

invoked when everyone’s work has

to be necessarily stacked together,

no matter of place in the school,

quality of drawings or other

department. On a separate note,

this rack is made up of straight lines

but the camera’s lens has distorted

these, curving the lines towards the

edge of the page.

88

exchange.

Thesubjectofmyprint’shaveundeniablybeeninfluencedbytheworkof18thCenturyartistPiranesi.Hisfictitiousand atmospheric etchings of Rome’s ruinous remains have instilledadeepsenseofnarrativeandexperienceIfindin few other pieces of art.

Some material qualities are invariably invoked when, in a print one represents light and space with an etched plates. There is a rough, coarsely textured surface to hold the black ink and the unblemished perfection of intense area’s of brightness shine on the page.

The prints produced from etchings often represent spaces, however on another level of consideration, etching is literally about space-making. There is a part of the process that essentially creates microscopic containers on the surface of the metal, to hold ink. These acid-eroded caverns seem enormous when viewed through a microscope eye-piece.

Thedepthoferosionisdifficulttoperceivewiththenakedeyebutwhenmagnified,themetalplatejumpsintosharp,detailed focus. The vast landscape looks like a different world, like an outlandish drawing or otherwise imagined uninhabited planet. The space which is formed from the acid-etching process is a real space, one that seems important to appreciate when making a plate.

Before one wets the page and rolls the plate through the press, the negative, textured metal plate is backward and obscured by ink. The anticipation of what your creation is going to cast is fantastic. The effect of the damp paper

89

being pushed into the eroded metal plate and all of its holes seems then similar to something like plaster casting. The plate comes out terra formed, moulded and shaped. Beforenowitwaseasiertoforgetthatpaperisfibrous.A combination of ink formation and embossing creates something undeniably three dimensional; this place isinhabitable, a plate to think. Light negotiates around the print’s surface in fascinating combinations, revealing traces of the drawing’s origins.

90

91

a l i s t o f w o r d s a n d d e f i n i t i o n s i m p o r t a n t t o t h i s b o o k

All definitions are taken from the eighth edition of TheConcise Oxford Dictionary, unless stated otherwise. Some definitions have been truncated for the sake of beingConcise.

-graphy comb. form forms nouns denoting a technique of producing images

candela n. the s.i. unit of luminous intensity

candescent adj. glowing with or as with white heat

catenary curves

n. a curve formed by a series of uniform lines

cornea n. the transparent circular part of the front of the eyeball

distortion n. the act, instance or process of putting out of shape, a misrepresentation, some impairment of quality

eclipse n. v. the obscuring of reflected light from one body by thepassage of another between it and the eye or between it and its source of illumination

92

enigma n. riddle or paradox, a puzzling thing or person

extrospection n. the consideration and observation of things external to the self;examinationandstudyofexternals.

ganzfeld a phenomenon of visual perception caused by staring at anundifferentiatedanduniformfieldofcolour.Theresultis “seeing black” - apparent blindness

gnomon n. the rod on a sundial that shows the time by the position of its shadow

illusion n. afigment of the imagination, a faultyperception ofanexternal object

image n. v. an optical appearance or counterpart produced by light, a representation of the external form of an object

intuition n. immediate apprehension by the mind or senses without reasoning. immediate insight

light n. adv. the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible

lumen n. thes.i.unitof luminousflux,equaltotheamountof lightemitted per second from a uniform source of one candela

luminance n. the intensity of light emitted from a surface per unit area in a given direction

lux n. the s.i. unit of illumination, equivalent to one lumen per square metre

93

narration n. a continuous story or account, related to events in order of happening

nothing n. adv. not anything, non-existence

occultation n. adj. v. hide from view by passing in front of ex. a lighthouse light that is cut off at regular intervals

optical power n. the degree to which a lens, mirror, or other optical system converges or diverges light. it is equal to the reciprocal of the focal length of the device

optics n.pl. thescientificstudyofsightandthebehaviouroflight

perception n. theintuitiverecognitionofatruth;thefacultyofperceiving

perspective n. adv. the apparent relation between visible objects as to position, distance, size

phenomenon n. afactoroccurrence thatappearsor isperceived;whatthe senses or the mind notice

portmanteau n. a leather trunk, opening in two equal parts, a word blending the sounds and combining the meaning of two others

process n. v. a course of action

projection n. a thing that obtrudes; a mental image viewed as anobjective reality

94

proximity n. nearness in space or time

reality n. what is real or existent or underlies appearances

retina n. a layer at the back of the eyeball sensitive to light

shadow n. v. shade, the slightest trace, a dark figure projected by abody intercepting rays of light

synaesthesia n. the production of a mental sense-impression relating to one sense by the stimulation of another sense

syzygy n. a pair of connected or correlated things, conjunction or opposition

mytho- comb. a traditional narrative, usually involving an imaginary person, thing or idea. an allegory

poetic adv. elevated or sublime in expression

disjunction n. the process of separation

intaglio n. a carving incised in hard material

dioptre n. a unit of refractive power of a lens, equal to the reciprocal of its focal length in metres

95

albedo n. theproportionoflightorradiationreflectedbyasurface,eps. a planet or moon

absolute magnitude

n. the brightness of a celestial body as seen from a standard distance of ten parsecs

parsec n. unit of stellar distance, equal to about 3.25 light years(3.08 x 1016metres),thedistanceatwhichthemeanradiusof the earth’s orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc

-opia comb. a combining form occurring in compound words denoting a condition of sight or of the visual organs

scotos n. greek, for darkness

apparition n. anactofappearing;manifestation

zine n. an inexpensively produced, self-published, underground publication

96

97

m a t z i n e

The matzine is a small publication by the Material masters unit, which I am part of. The matzine is a portmanteau. Material + zine. We use the matzine as a format which brings into close relationship the work and ideas of each member of the Material unit. Students and staff alike. It was also a great platform to share ideas on binding, book making and printing with very thin paper.

Todateedition#001-#004arepublished.

The following paragraphs are the unpublished preamble to matzine#003 ‘a maifesto’. On the following page is the manifesto as set out by our unit.

Material attempts to comprehend the expansiveness of architecture and contextualize wider issues beyond the normal scope of plan, section and programme. We delve beneath the surface and investigate our own agendas. Nothing is predetermined. The passage of learning brings forth enlightenment from obscurity. The margins between success and failure are secondary to the processes undertaken. Outcomes are not fixed but form part of a bigger picture where learning and identity continue to be re-evaluated. We form our own objectives and criteria and test through exploring alternative means of investigation. The manner of our methodology and reflective brings a mature understanding towards a definition of architecture and our relationship within it.

98

99

1 we are interested in architecture architecture is fundamental to human existence; through the act of dwelling and shelter. architects are not fundamental to human existence, they are merely the interpreters + facilitators.

2 explore the peripheries our interests traverse the spectrum of the technological and the philosophical within architecture and extend through the arts and humanities

3 work with the analogue, the mechanical and the tactile believe in the potential of plaster, the typewriter, the pencil and all analogue media - question preoccupation with the digital

4 enjoy the act of making by makng, we think. models and drawings created and used are not dumb and neutral; they are formative steps in the trans(form)ation of an idea

5 critique = peers * {context }∞

experience

6 work with doubt maintain a positive relationship; doubt and anxiety are natural bedfellows to investigation and exploration

7 keep creative mess mix it, break it, make, it fake it. the (creative) mess of your colleagues is more important than you might think it can’t but be of some influence, trivial or profound

8 question the questions you ask they are often more important than answers

9 embrace the autobiographical our work is as much a dialogue and rhetoric with architecture as it is with our selves, our own narratives and experiences

10 discourse! be critical and thoughtful of others’ work; not impulsive, but intuitive

11 articulate the clear argument communicate your position in a cogent, structured manner. obfuscation and verbosity are two of architecture’s greatest afflictions. avoid them

12 drink beer in studio studying architecture is a vocation, not just a course.

don’t separate your ‘working’ life from your social life. the greatest ideas need company

13 we are not architects. we are not artists we are students

14 use intuition in the creative processdon’t let reason

box you in

15 don’t print manifestos the moment they are agreed upon, they become redundant

100

Achenbach, J. October 2001, National

Geographic, p11

Alberti,L.B.[1452]OntheArtofBuildingin

Ten Books, Rykwert, Leach, and Tavernor,

trans. [Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1988],

p1.12

Aristotle[c.350]OnTheSoul,Kessinger

Publishing2004,p34

Borges, J. L. [1962] Labyrinths: selected stories

& other writings, New Directions, p110

Borys,A.M.[2004]LumediLume:Atheoryof

Light and its Effects, Journal of Architectural

Education, Blackwell Publishing p9

Boullée, E.-L. [c.1790] Architecture, Essai sur

l’art, Hermann 1968. p93

Brandi, U. [2007] Light for Cities: lighting

design for urban spaces, a handbook,

Springer,p150

Caillois,R[1935],TheEdgeofSurrealism:a

Roger Caillois reader,, Duke University Press,

p101

Corbusier, Le [1927] Towards a New

Architecture, Payson & Clarke, ltd p29

Dante Alighieri, [c.1300] The Divine Comedy,

translated by Charles Eliot Norton,

Digireads.comPublishing,2005,p259

Derrida,J.[2005]VitaminD:newperspectives

in drawing, Phaidon p161. original author:

Emma Dexter

Emerson,R.W.[1841]Circles,TheCollected

Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson 1971,

Harvard University Press, p179

Ficacci, L, [2001]. Giovanni Battista Piranesi:

selected etchings, Taschen, Italy p. 12

Flagge, I [2002], The secret of Shadow: Light

and Shadow in Architecture, Wasmuth, Berlin

Han, C. [2009] Dimension 22:Visceral Sensation

in the Space of Death, University of

MichiganPress,p15

Holl, S. [2000] Parallax, Princeton Architectural

Press, p139

Islam,R.[2004]“StareOut/Blink”exhibition

as seen in Eclipse: towards the edge of the

visible. White Cube, Hoxton. original author:

Annushka Shani

Lefebvre, H, [1991] The Production of Space,

Wiley-Blackwell p229

Mccall, A. [2007] Éléments pour une

rétrospective.MonografikEditionsp54

Minkowski, E. [1933] Le temps vecu: Etudes

b i b l i o g r a p h y

101

Phenomenologiques et Psychopathologiques.

Trans by Nancy Metzel in a book called

lived time: Phenomenological and

Psychopathological studies, Northwestern

University Press, Evanston 1970

Pallasmaa, J. [2000] Encounters: architectural

essays: Stairways of the Mind, Rakennustieto

Oy, p60

Pallasmaa,J.[2005]TheEyesoftheskin:

Architecture and the senses, John Wiley &

Sons Ltd.

Serlio,S.[1537]OnArchitecture,Hartand

Hicks, trans. New Haven: Yale University

Press, 1996, p37

Serra,R.[2005]TheMatterofTime,

Guggenheim, p20

Shani,A.[2004]Eclipse:towardstheedgeof

thevisible.WhiteCube,Hoxtonp49

Tanizaki, J. [2001] In Praise of Shadows,

Vintage, University of Michigan, p31

Turrell, J. [2009] Geometry of Light, Hatje

Cantz p90

Zajonc, A. [1993] Catching the Light: The

Entwined History of Light and Mind, Oxford

University Press, New York p7

Zumthor, P. [1998] Thinking Architecture,

Princeton Architectural Press p67

102

fig01Photographofabulb.Ownimage

fig02Astronomer’sInstrument.Ownimage

fig03Pantheon,Rome.http://upload.

wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/

Pantheon.drawing.jpg, accessed

19/04/2010

fig04Bathroomdoorlockandshadow.Own

image

fig05“ObeliskonaHorizon”etchingprint.

Own image

fig06JamesTurrell,“LightTriangle”.http://

www.noodlesmcintosh.com/wp-content/

uploads/2009/10/james_turrell.jpg,

accessed20/04/2010

fig07LebbeusWoods,“TombforEinstein”,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/

migueloks/3323983672/, accessed

20/04/2010

fig08Doubleexposurewithwindowinhair.

Own image

fig09Photographofwallandceilingjunction.

Image kindly lent from Rowan Mackinnon-

Pryde.

fig10Etienne-LouisBoullée’s“Cenotaphfor

SirIsaacNewton”1784,http://commons.

wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boull%C3%A9e_-

_C%C3%A9notaphe_%C3%A0_Newton_-

_%C3%A9l%C3%A9vation.jpg, accessed

20/04/2010

fig11Caravaggio’s“TheCallingofSaint-

Matthew”, www.wga.hu/art/b/baglione/

sacred2.jpg,accessed20/04/2010

fig12Embossedpage.Owniamge

fig13AnthonyMcCall’s“LightDescribing

a Cone” http://static.guim.co.uk/

Guardian/arts/gallery/2007/dec/12/

art.photography/GD5582804@Anthony-

McCall-exhibi-9927.jpg, accessed

20/04/2010

fig14StillfromBlackMill,ashortfilm.Own

image

fig15Scansof35mmfilmnegative.Ownimage

fig16Photographofanuclearexplosion,

“Optics in Photography” by Rudolf

Kingslake,SPIEOpticalEngineeringPress,

1992

fig17Sectionthroughtwocameralens.Lbid.

fig18Longexposurephotograph.Ownimage

fig19SchematicdrawingofTurrell’s“Alien

Exam”, Geometry of Light, Hatje Cantz,

2009

fig20PabloPicasso’s“PortraitofDaniel

HenryKahnweiler”,1910,http://www.

i m a g e r e f e r e n c e s

103

avenuedstereo.com/modern/picasso_

kahnweiler.jpg,accessed20/04/2010

fig21Sequenceofphotographsshowingthe

etching preparation process. Own image

fig22“MysteriousLight”.Photographof

Melville Street. Image kindly lent from

Rowan Mackinnon-Pryde

fig23Photographtakenfromthepeakof

Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh. Own image

fig24Photocollageofself-madeCamera

obscura. Own image

fig25Photographofaplanetariumprojector.

Own image

fig26“BLACK55985”,aphotographofan

etching ink container. Own image

fig27PhotographofBallgayHillobservatory,

Dundee. Own image

fig28Photographofatableanditsshadow

fig29Presentationwall.Ownimage

fig30Photographofmodel.Ownimage

fig31Photographofstudio,withlamplight.

Own image

fig32ResultingimagefromCameraObscura.

Own image

fig33“Claustrophobia”etchingprint.Own

image

fig34“ObeliskonaHorizon”etchingprint.

Own image

fig35MountTindayaproposalbyEduardo

Chillida. http://tumbaymonumento.

wikispaces.com/file/view/tindaya3.

jpg/34252427/tindaya3.jpg,accessed

21/04/2010

fig36“Thelasteclipse”etchingprint.Own

image

fig37“Edgedetail”etchingprint.Ownimage

fig38“OGravity,whyhaveyouforsakenme?”

etching print. Own image

fig39“Scotopia”etchingprint.Ownimage

fig40“Trajan’sSeat”etchingprint.Ownimage

fig41“EngineRoom”etchingprint.Ownimage

fig42Photographjoineroftheprintstudio.

Own image

fig43FilmstillfromBlackMill.Ownimage

fig44AnnouncementPosterforBlackMill.Own

image





fig49Photographoftheprintrack.Ownimage

x




nothing disappears completely

Documents

e d g e

natural light

story of light

light doesnt

illusion of light

wonder of light

r s c o

youviviip r e f