Light Revealing Experience

“Our experience of light begins in the personal and proceeds to the universal” (Millet, 1). Light is something that has always been around me since I was born. It’s not something that the average person may necessarily think much about because it is always there when we want it and not, when we don’t. But when you do think about it, light affects everything. Light is what makes color, color. Its what makes objects and life seem real. In an article by Marietta Millet, Light Revealing Experience, she discusses the relationships between light and place, nature, climate, time, and task. Through reading this article, I am able to relate all of these topics to my own life and experiences.

There’s nothing quite like being on a boat in the middle of Lake Norman watching the sunset over the water. All the rich colors are seen in a reflection that I can touch with my hands. Light has the ability to identify places by their physical characteristics (Millet, 6). Not just a view, but the way light hits a building or sculpture. I can recognize where I am by seeing the shadows coming from my mailbox or the way light comes in through the different windows in my house. Every place is defined uniquely by the light combinations involved (Millet, 6). I think back to my visit to Fallingwater in my first year of Interior Architecture. There was a walkway that had a covering that produced a bold pattern of vertical lines cascading through the path. Frank Lloyd Wright is one of those skilled architects that I have seen use light in such a way that brings everything together – inside and out. Even the way light is shown throughout that home is a sight to see and remember.

Light can suggest other places that we see in nature. For example, the shadows from the walkway at Fallingwater are wide and vertical on a stone wall. It hints at the trees surrounding and brings the structure back around to reflect nature. All characteristics of light can together create a visual connotation that can remind us of something in nature that we have seen before or might perhaps be distant (Millet, 15)

The interaction between light and climate is multidimensional, having to do with place, thermal comfort, culture, peoples’ habits and rituals (Millet, 17). Depending on the temperature of a place or the way light is reacting to that place and climate can make a person have a change of emotions. As Millet stated, a winter day where there is snow on the ground can make a person feel happier than if there wasn’t snow because of the high amount of light reflecting off the white snow. I lived in Ohio for 16 years. There were plenty of days in the year where we had snow. There were also plenty of days with dead grass. I would pick that snowy day over any of those other gloomy days every time. The snow put me in a cheerful mood when there was any bit of sunlight shining down. It just makes me happier when it’s bright out.

Light also has an effect on time. In other countries like Egypt and England, they have been able to use means of telling time such as the pyramids and Stonehenge. Though in America, we seem rather fixed on the clock. What people may not think of is that we also tell time by the seasons and the amount of light coming in through a window. We can tell that it is morning because there is light coming in from a window facing east. We know that it is summer because the day is light for a longer time. While we can tell these time points by light, I do think than many people rely on electric light more than we should. It could be dark outside and I may not know it because I have lights on in my house. It is important to experience and experiment with all types of light sources, day and night.

We are most aware of light when there is either not enough or too much, to be able to comfortably do what we want (Millet, 26). I think Frank Lloyd Wright had a great idea for maximum task light in the Larkin Building by incorporating a large skylight and perimeter windows. This created diffused lighting from every direction and people could work at a desk without any shadows cast (Millet, 26). I prefer to have the use of natural light during the day and also electric light at night if needed for tasks. Having options is helpful when I need maximum light I could always turn on a bright desk lamp to do work by or an overall ceiling lamp.

Overall, it is clear that light relates to everything in our world. Whether we are with it or without it, light affects everything.