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I just started a new class called Shaping Solid Light. I know, the title is amazing. I think the class is going to be pretty great, as well.

The class is taught by Mat Rappaport, who I had the privilege of taking a laser cutting workshop with earlier in the semester. The class is only four weeks long, but it appears we are going to be going through a lot of content. We meet in the Raw Space, which is a 2,000 square foot black box venue.

In the class, we explore technical and conceptual uses of light. We will be going through how to use our department’s various projectors, with the software we learned in the class Code and Language, Isadora, and software controlled lighting technologies like LANbox, DMX, and cyberpak.  The course description says, “Readings, discussions, and demonstrations in this course are organized to challenge the conceptual and technical assumptions about the materiality of the ephemeral image.”  I like the sound of that: “the materiality of the ephemeral image”.

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The idea of the material of the ephemeral, or the idea of shaping solid light, is fascinating to me. It brings to mind images of James Turrell’s light installations.

For our first class this last Tuesday, Mat introduced us to our department’s projectors and taught us how to properly mount them. We also looked at some artists who have been working with light. In particular, we looked at Anthony Mccall, a London based avant garde artist who’s Solid Light film series was some of the inspiration for the class.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-HWsxPnNNY[/youtube]

We also looked at the work of Bruce Nauman, Gary Hill, the Builders Association, and Bill Viola, who are all doing really interesting work with projectors and lights.

I’m excited to explore this idea of solid light. As I begin to experiment with the projectors and lights in the department, I will post documentation of those experiments.

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