light reading

"Sam Johnson’s Light Reading is a low-energy compact fluorescent lamp ingeniously disguised as a book. It is meant to nestle in between other books on your bookshelf and remain invisible until illuminated: when turned off it blends right in with your other books, but switched on, it emits a bright white light which reveals its title. Made from a material called ‘Secret sign’ (by Perspex), the low-energy fluorescent fixture ensures that you won’t use much energy and the book lamp won’t ever overheat (and damage your other books)."

I like the thought of disguising the light as something else to keep it hidden unless you knew what you were looking for.

hidden lights by Billy May

At the first glance, it seems that your wall has been tear down and the light is shot from the outside of your house. Although it is very beautiful to give an atmosphere like this, I guess you do not want to hurt your house.






www.billy-may.com

Adam Frank

Today I discovered Adam Frank, the thing that caught my eye was 'Reveal'

The idea being to create a simulation of natural light where none is present. Although when I found out that he had just used a projector I found the product somewhat lame and uninspired.

However I did discover some of his more interesting installations like 'Shadow'

"Shadow is an interactive installation that projects a disembodied, autonomous, human shadow on the ground. This apparently living shadow attempts to merge itself with the viewer's real shadow. When this occurs, the invisible figure, implied by the virtual shadow, inhabits the viewer's own personal space. Real-time 3D graphics and video sensing are used to produce this work of interactive light."

http://adamfrank.com/index.html

James Turrel

"Like any truly 'inspired' artist - James Turrell is hard to pigeonhole. His work hardly resembles that of his contemporaries - as much of the inspiration itself appears to come from the (perhaps metaphysical) properties of light itself, and the lack of ability of even our best scientific minds to really understand it's complex subtlety. Indeed Turrell seems almost to have come from a vacuum with respect to artistic reference and influence - one can see a little bit more reverence for Max Planck and Einstein perhaps in his work than that of the colleagues we choose to group him with.


Working out of a small studio in the area of Venice, California in the early 1970s Turrell began his exploration with projected light, as seen in the documented works below. Setting up a slide projector mounted to the ceiling of the room via a platform, Turrell painstakingly experimented with conventional 35mm slide frames masked off with opaque silver tape in various shapes registgered to the geometry of the corner of the studio into to generate what appears to be a three dimensional volume of brilliant light."

Winscape

Back to more old school films again for this one. 'Total Recall' have a look at this short scene.


Now it is a reality

Have a look at http://www.rationalcraft.com/Winscape.html for more information

Mirrors

As it was such a nice day today I decided to experiment with mirrors and the reflection of light


I enjoyed the fact that I could give the illusion of light shining through the blinds even though they are not transparent which has given me some ideas

TRON

After coming across some images of tron whilst researching different lighting techniques i decided to watch the new film for some ideas.


This also made me think of 'tron guy' the internet sensation from a couple years ago so i have done further research and am currently playing with the idea of using elctroluminescents.

Daniel Rybakken

Daniel Rybakken is a designer that i have stumbled across and am currently finding his works very interesting and inspiring.
Particularily 'Daylight entrance, Stockholm'



"If you suffer from seasonal affective disorder like I do, then you know that you’ve toyed with the idea of spending upwards of $300 for light therapy. Well I say why not elevate the light therapy to art status? Spend a little more to create the illusion of light in the beautiful way that Daniel Rybakken does with his installations. Daniel has won numerous design awards. This particular installation is in the entrance and staircase of an office building. Both don’t have any natural light, but these panels give you the positive sensation of sunlight. The back of the panels were hollowed by CNC-milling and then backlit with a lot of LED’s."

And 'Subconscious effect of daylight'



Take a look at some of his other works
http://www.danielrybakken.com/Daniel_Rybakken.html

VALKEE Bright light headset

Reduced exposure to light affects all of us. Symptoms are ranging from mood swings to the more serious seasonal affective disorder. The VALKEE bright light headset increases light exposure easily and effectively by bringing light very close to the brain via the ear canals.

Researchers at the University of Oulu, Finland, have researched bright light headsets since 2008, and are convinced that this is a significant method for the prevention and treatment of seasonal affective disorders and other depression types.


http://www.valkee.com/en/

The Light Sleeper

A silent alarm clock, 2001
Light Sleeper is an illuminating, personalised alarm integrated into bedding that gently wakes in the most natural way. Ever since the beginning of time light has controlled our body clock telling us when to sleep and when to wake. As lifestyles are rapidly changing with increased travel and demands on our time, people's natural body clocks are out of sync. This pillow and duvet simulates a natural dawn that eases you into your day. LightSleeper Bedding uses electroluminescent technology allowing traditional textile surfaces to become a reactive light source.

The bedding aims to treat sufferers of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) where insufficient levels of daylight cause medical conditions caused by a hormonal imbalance ranging from depression to loss of energy, pre-menstrual syndrome, weight gain and migraines. It is recognised by most scientists that SAD and other sleep/ mood disorders are linked to a shift in the suprachaismatic nucleus or circadian rhythm and often referred to as the ‘body clock’. It is recommended that a bright light stimulus is needed to reset the body clock everyday recognising that this controls our daily sleep/ wake cycle and hormone functions. It uses signals from the sun and bright light to reset these functions, therefore in the winter months our bodies can receive these signals at the wrong time of day or not at all. By using a bright light, 10,000 lux, our bodies reset and the right hormones are released ensuring we feel active and energetic throughout the day with the need to sleep at night. Exposure to intense artificial light suppresses the secretion of the night time hormone melatonin, and may enhance the effectiveness of serotonin and other neurotransmitters. It is believed to be the only way of shifting the circadian rhythm. Research shows that the body’s internal clock only responds to bright light at certain times of day. This peak time in normal people occurs when the circadian rhythm is in R.E.M sleep, which is approximately 1 to 2 hours before waking. This promotes the use of Light Sleeper Bedding and proves it to be one of the most effective products for treating SAD and improving well being as it synchronises our body clock each morning. The bedding is also suitable for those who keep unusual hours and who travel in helping to prevent jet lag and regulate the body clock.
Our body clock responds to an imitation sunrise by accelerating the wake-up processes. Research indicates that it is important that the light comes on gradually and that having a light on an on/off time switch will not have the same effect, this is why light sleeper bedding gradually begins to glow in a natural breathing rhythm over a 15-20 minute period.

T-shirts to promote SAD

Keith Hancox is graphic designer, who has a friend who suffers from seasonal affective disorder (s.a.d). So he designed this t-shirt for him, where the sun image is over printed with black heat sensitive ink which turns transparent at 32ºc.

Interview

After interviewing a sufferer of SAD it is now clear that there is a gap in the market for a new product.
Here are some of my findings,
It is a very confusing thing, at first you do not know what it is?
Once diagnosed you really have to plan your life around it which becomes a strain.
The main thing is the changing hours of daylight throughout the year which made me think of the photperiodism of plants again. So it is not necessarily the amount of light.
You can get drugs to help you when you are down but a lot of sufferers tend not to go for these, many for job related reasons.
The best thing to do other than using light boxes and changing your daily routine over the winter months is to try and go away on holiday over these months to somewhere that has more daylight hours.
I was told that the only thing that would pretty much cure it or make it easier to live with would be to either get a summer based job or to permanently move to somewhere around the equator where SAD is pretty much non existent due to the more regular hours of sunlight a day.
The longest day can also mess things up and make you feel extremely energetic at times.
It is clear that if you suffer from Sad it is hard to cope on your own and you need the aid of friends and family there are also organisations and forums where people can discuss new products and ways of coping.
I have joined a few to try and get some more feedback and information on SAD

Light cafe

In Sweden they have tried to combat the lack of natural light in the winter months by introducing a light cafe where you can go and relax in 'natural' light.


http://www.iglo.se/Home.aspx

http://spluch.blogspot.com/2006/11/in-dark-of-winter-light-cafe-battles.html

SAD is a lot more abundant in Scandanavia due to their long dark winters. Here is an interesting article relating to suicides in Greenland.

http://neurocritic.blogspot.com/2009/05/suicide-rates-in-greenland-are-highest.html

'Interesting' developements in SAD

Here are a few more interesting takes on overcoming Sad some better than others.

The Revive by designer Meng-Jung Chuang is a uniquely designed chair meant to cure seasonal affective disorder in expecting mothers using light therapy. The treatment is considered an effective way to alleviate pregnancy blues and ensure health. The chair emits light of a similar color and brightness on the inside that spreads widely around the user. The blue light resembles the sky, whereas the green cushion evokes the feeling of sitting on grass, thereby making the expectant mother feel calm and relaxed.
http://medicinet.info/42.ht#more-42

And yes apparently your pets can get SAD although I think they may just like it because all cats and dogs love sitting in sunlight anyway!

Trying to create sunlight in the dark

Light Bar Bus Shelter, where Instant Coffee transformed the Main and 20th Avenue bus shelter into a full spectrum light therapy bar. As Instant Coffee describes it, Lightbar is “a moment of solace; only fifteen minutes at the bus shelter is all you need from your daily dose of vitamin D and a brighter future.” (The lights are a temporary installation and are motion-sensor activated.)
And as explained in the previous post, this public art program is just one of many measures in a broad package of improvements being installed to give people a better transportation experience on Main Street.
Urban design, new transit technology, and a fleet of new buses all contribute to a more efficient transit system and make Main Street more welcoming for pedestrians and transit riders, in turn serving the ultimate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The project has brought Main Street some new street furniture, sidewalk improvements, and the new articulated trolleys on the #3 route. In the coming months the busiest stops on the route will be fitted with next-bus information and on-bus technology will communicate with traffic signals to help keep the buses on time.
And in addition to the Instant Coffee installation, 88 BLOCKS will present four more art installations over the next three years, wrapping up by April 2011.

SAD

Researching the different products available for SAD sufferers

It is clear that there are many different lights to aid SAD sufferers

Some other less in your face ideas


These glasses however are very much in your face!

Here is a video on how the glasses 'supposedly work' cant see me wearing these by choice though, can you?

Take the class out of the classroom

I decided to do an experiment and see how much happier everyone felt having our weekly group discussion outside in the sun. The consensus was a great uplift in mood.

I sat and recorded my findings while other students ventured out into the sun for their lunch and interviewed some of them.

Here are a few responses:
Why are you outside even though its only 10 degrees?
"it feels warm and i like the blue"
"I feel happier. I feel like a plant Photosynthesizing"
"It just feels good to get a break form being inside all day"

I found it strange that although the cold temperature and the fact that there were no leaves on the trees, indicating the season that people still loved to be outside in the sun.

SAD

Leading on from the actions and photoperiodism of plants and my questionnaire research I have started to look more in depth to SAD.
SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)
is a type of winter depression that affects an estimated 7% of the population every winter between September and April; in particular during December, January and February.

For more information go to,
http://www.sada.org.uk/

How the weather and light affect plants

Going back to nature it is clear that there is some correlation between our bodies and plants so i investigated how plants can tell when to bloom and what season it is.

I found it very interesting the different ways that various plants folded up their leaves when it gets dark this process is called 'Nyctinasty' this can occur for two reasons. To pump water to the rest of the plant while there is no sunlight and because insects sleep at night so closing up will conserve their pollen. It all has to do with photoperiodism and the photosynthesis process.