Colour in the dark

Waiting for the sun to shine....


















Making different sizes and different colours, painting the outside in different colours...

What would happen if I use ambient light entering a darkened room - that is black walls and ceiling/floor to absorb all light - and bounce it around to make my tubes glow?

Glow or brightness is a relative effect. Rather like the experiment of putting your left hand in cold water and your right in hot then moving them both into lukewarm water - the sensation of heat is relative to the last temperature.

So these are a few first images of my tubes - photos taken in a dark environment with low lighting...

Colour and Light - Feeling Better Already!

Like many others, I have become convinced both through research and practical investigation that our environment has a huge impact on our health and wellbeing. To improve our wellbeing we should improve our environment.

Light is the basis of life. Colour is dependent upon light. Without light we become depressed and lethargic. Colour and light can simply make us feel better. And if we feel better then we live better and we stay healthy.

New design features such as light walls and colour-changing lights are transforming offices and homes. Research has shown how the brain perceives colour and work is continuing on emotional responses to colour.

So when I make artwork I am thinking of ways that I can improve my own environment. My colour installations are an attempt to create a physical response in the observer. In the way that stained glass windows create a spiritual glow and James Turrell's works instil awe, I should like to create works that affect both the environment and the viewer. David Batchelor talks of wanting to 'transport' the viewer by immersing him in the light and hue generated by his works - he likens it to cinema or a musical composition where viewers are held enthralled, involved in the event.

That is the quality I most admire in works involving colour and light. And that, tall order that it is, is what I want to acheive.

These colour tubes that I have been making as models for a larger scale installation are dependent on light. When the sun shines they glow beautifully and cast colour on their surroundings. In these recent dull days the light has not been good enough to give the brightness I want.

So I need to configure some artificial light to achieve the same effect....