The Atmospheric Conditions of Light
– Jodi Pfister, Adam Levin, Adam Laskowitz
The following study will analyze light across the visual spectrum. The characteristics of this spectrum will be graphed under highly localized conditions, creating a number of data sets that can then be used comparatively to understand how local lighting conditions affect the general lighting atmosphere of the studio. These data sets will then be analyzed with another data set graphing the social dynamic of the studio with reference to the various characteristics of light, in order to better understand how light affects group behavior, and conversely how group behavior affects things like the dominant chromatic spectra of the environment and average lighting levels within the space.
The study of the visual spectrum of light will thus proceed in two distinct ways. In the first, sensors accumulating data on the intensity of light will be spread throughout the room, and streamed separately. Special attention will be given to light sources, including overhead (artificial) light and natural light, as well as specific elements that may affect the overall lighting conditions of the room, like computer screens and doorways. This will result in the creation of local datasets that will provide a level of specificity to the information, and reveal how changes in local light conditions affect the general lighting environment.
This will generate highly specific information on how the group accommodates changes in light. Does the group prefer lighting within highly specific parameters of intensity? How does the group adjust to changes in general lighting conditions through local action? Is the group self-regulating with respect to the lighting atmosphere it seeks to maintain? What fissures within the group can be detected with respect to localized lighting conditions, and how do these fissures find resolution? These are some of the questions that we hope to explore in this investigation.
The second method of studying visual light entails using photographic/cinematic equipment in order to understand the chromatic quality of light in the space. Thus, if the first study is quantitative, the second is qualitative. Video and photographs of the space will be taken at regular intervals over the course of the study. This evidence will then be spectrally analyzed and divided up into dominant and secondary color scales.
This will generate information on how changing weather conditions and diurnal shifts in lighting conditions affect the chromatic atmosphere of the space. Furthermore, it will provide complementary data on how group dynamics are affected by both reflected and direct light. Is there a general chromatic atmosphere towards which the group tends? How do group dynamics function in order to maintain such color constants? How does color (in the form of weather interference and diurnal shifts) affect work habits/social dynamics? Do specific chromatic similarities delimit certain subsets within the group? Are these subsets rigid or fluid, and how are they mediated daily, weekly and monthly? These are some of the social questions that this part of the study will investigate.
Thus light will be studied as a dynamic, reciprocal phenomenon, responding to user needs through environmental controls, and affecting user behavior. It will also be studied as something that may reveal subconscious organizational patterns within complex social arrangements, the traces of which might be read in terms of general lighting conditions, lighting adjustments and color distribution. Finally, it will be researched as both a natural and a cultural condition; creating the context for a critical reanalysis of how we define these terms in the contemporary discourse on light.
