MATERIALITY OF LIGHT
LIGHT, TRANSPARENCIES, AND MATERIAL CONDITION
Light plays a fundamental role in how we perceive material. Different materials transmit, absorb, and reflect light in different ways, shaping both their appearance and our understanding of their physical qualities. Opaque materials such as wood, stone, and metal block visible light, reflecting or absorbing it instead. Transparent materials, like clear glass or water, allow light to pass directly through them, making objects beyond them visible. Between these extremes are translucent materials, such as frosted glass and certain plastics, which permit only partial light transmission and blur what lies behind them. These distinctions are not merely technical classifications; they define how a material is experienced visually and spatially.
This project investigates the relationship between light, transparency, and material condition by focusing on how lighting influences perception. Material qualities such as transparency and translucency are never fixed visual facts; they shift with context, especially with changes in illumination. Although we often perceive translucency with a degree of consistency across different forms and settings, that perception is still strongly shaped by external lighting conditions and by the way light scatters through a material. As a result, the same object can appear dramatically different depending on its environment. By studying these variations, the project frames light not simply as something that reveals material, but as an active force that constructs how materiality itself is understood.
3D printed sculptural forms, foamboard, monofilament, lighting, mylar
2016
