Material Exploration

Material exploration is an effort to understand the effect different light-reflective materials have on the resulting light painting. We want visual impact.

Material Exploration Notes✨

Compact Disks

First material I explored. I cut CDs into both small and large pieces, placed them in a bowl, and directed a flashlight towards them in a dark room. I discovered that directing a flashlight at the CD pieces with a swirling motion created dynamic sculptural light forms.

👍 High impact. Colorful, sculptural light forms.

Dichroic Film

Dichroic film is a color-shifting material that exhibits different colors dependent on light conditions and the viewing angle. I applied dichroic film to a glass sheet that sits on top of the instrument.

👍 Can be used as a color filter.

👎 May filter out desired colors.

Glitter

The glitter sparkled when the light shined on it, but the reflected light onto the wall had minimal to no visual impact. The light scatters in too many directions, creating a fuzzy, grainy light effect that’s barely noticeable.

👍 Makes the inside of the instrument pretty.

👎 Minimal to zero visual impact.

Sequins

Sequins were far more successful at reflecting well-defined shapes of colored light compared to glitter due to the greater surface area that the light could bounce off of. Sequins help produce the speckled light patches in light paintings.

👍 Speckled light patches.

Flashlight

The flashlight is the primary light source in the light painting series. The bright intensity and directional qualities of the flashlight allow for greater control over which sections of the instrument are being reflected. This is key in achieving the well-defined blocks of colored light in the resulting painting.

👍 Strong, directional light results in better reflections.

LED Strip

When crafting the second version of the instrument, I installed LED strips onto the glass frame that rests above the light-reflective components. This light source beautifully illuminated the inside of the instrument, but it would blur the edges of the sculptural light forms produced by the flashlight. This would overall soften the sharpness of the resulting light painting.

👍 Makes the inside of the instrument pretty.

👎 Reduces visual impact.

Video Documentation

Material exploration prior to the construction of the first instrument.