The Importance Of Light In Art

The visual world can be described in many ways, but its most fundamental properties seem to be these: It is extended in distance and modified in depth; it is upright, stable, and without boundaries; it is coloured, shadowed, illuminated, and textured; it is composed of surface, edges, shapes, and interspaces; finally and most importantly of all, it is filled with things which have a meaning. ( Gibson,1950, Pg 3)

And to capture such visual world one needs a surface which is illuminated: whether as a captured light within a painting or projected onto the surface, the nature of light within both mediums is varied. Within a painting, the composition is illusive and can be described as a simulacrum of actual light; manipulated by painters and dominated by the shadows and colourful spectrum of natural light which captures a moment in time within single a frame as static image, totally dependant on external light source for its illumination to reflect the captured simulacrum. (Blühem, Lippincott, pg 52,150) Image projection on the other hand is light itself, transported from its archival state on to the surface. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/147273619, pg 3, 6)

Relationship between light and illumination is defined perfectly by Le Corbusier as:

“Light and illumination are inseparable components of form, space and light. These are the things that create ambiance and feel of a place, as well as the expression of a structure that houses the functions within it and around it. Light