site specific; irvine spectrum

I found the Irvine Spectrum's holiday lights to be very effective. The lights of the Farris wheel along with the holiday lights were exciting and created a festive and inviting environment. It gave a small town feeling of warmth and community.

The lights in the in window of Urban Outfitters I found particularly inviting. They were using a playful idea of a clock and a countdown to Christmas. I was definitely drawn into the store by their use of lighting.

Week 10: A Fall day

One day last week, I was walking back to the arts department with some friends and we couldn't help but stop and admire the fallen leaves that were covering the ground. We were talking about how it feels like this year we are having more of a classic fall with the leaves changing and falling. It was a beautiful image with the coating of leaves and the filtered light coming through the trees, so as Jaque and Becca played in them, I snapped a photo. I love the light, playful feeling of the photo, and the warm light coming through the trees creates a wonderful world for them. I think this filter would work beautifully as a gobo for a stage performance to create a natural, outdoor feeling.

Week #10 - Site Specific

For my site specific blog, I chose to do the Irvine Spectrum. This space was awash with extravagant lights everywhere, from the bright and festive stores to the shining fountains and even an elaborately lit ice skating rink, shown in the first photograph. For me, the rink best gave an overall feeling for the site because, like the huge ferris wheel and carousel which were also bedecked with lights to attract the wandering teenagers. However, it was the only one of the three which was not moving, and thus enabled me to snap a picture without the lights blurring in my camera's lens.

The lighting in the first shop I noticed was an abysmal failure. At first glance I mistook this perfumerie for a bookstore because of the lifeless, academic style of the lighting. Considering that the Perfume Gallery lacked any sort of window display, attractive pictures of bottles of perfume, or any other form of advertising beyond shelves and shelves of boxes that looked like nothing more books, I can see why there were no customers inside despite the otherwise bustling crowd of shoppers. The light was so bland and boring, especially compared with the garish finery surrounding the store, that I found my eyes automatically skipping over the front windows. I suspect that if the owners took the initiative to redesign the light to give the store a theme with a bit more mystery, passion, and romance, they would receive quite a bit more business.

Second I chose the Capital Seafood Bar for its unique and highly appropriate lighting. The soft glow of the red paper lanterns definitely added to the overall Asian theme of the restaurant, and also drew attention to the lovely intricate patterning of the architecture in the corners of the windows and door frames. The bright neon sign outside the front door was also red, matching the theme, and yet was tastefully highlighted with white shadowing, making the letters stand out clearly and legibly from a great distance. Finally, the interesting greenish-yellow luminescence around the alcoholic beverages behind the bar added an interesting exotic flavor to the unusual drinks they were serving. All in all, I thought the lighting for this restaurant was the most detailed and effective for the kind of message they were sending.

Week 10: SITE SPECIFIC

For my site specific blog, I decided to review the Irvine Spectrum. A native of Irvine, the Spectrum is a great place to shop, eat and yes, enjoy lights. Often my boyfriend and I would come here just to walk around because of the variety of shops and many things to do on a Wednesday evening. This picture of the carousel is a highlight of the center due to its positioning in the space and dramatic saturated lighting. With the beautiful waterfalls nearby the carousel, it helps creates a peaceful scene.

Being one of many poor lit stores, the Perfume Gallery had very poor lighting. With its overly cluttered selection of perfume, the lighting hardly helps draw attention to their store. Hopefully the perfume can sell itself. The yellow tinted shelving units and paint do not reflect the light. The squared florescent lights cause the customer to be overwhelmed with the unfocused scattered light. Perhaps if the items were lit with track lighting, the customer would be able to focus their eye on particular key fragrances. Having never seen too many shoppers inside, lighting would hopefully draw more in.

One of many stores that had great lighting was Urban Outfitters. Approximately once a month, Urban Outfitters redesigns their front marque with a catchy artistic look. What I also like about their store are the two panels of cracked glass that frame their doors entrance giving the glass a warm frosted look. Framing their doors entirely are two rather warm lights that help accent the building. Inside the store their ceiling are noticeably white, helping reflect the rather raw/bare look of the store. With the hanging florescent lights, it allows the light to reflect more to the floor than ceiling and allows the customer to be directed with an artistic look.

week 9. red light

I noticed this light while walking down the street. The color red says many things to us such as, stop, danger, beware. It also can read as passion or love. It all depends on the context. I think it depends on the way it is presented to the interpreter. If it is in your face it reads as danger. That is the way that this light read to me. Stop. Danger.

Week 9: Site Specific Blog

For my site specific blog, I visited The Irvine Spectrum. As I walked around the mall by myself this evening, I couldn't help but feel small within the huge landscape of stores, restaurants, and people. In general, I'm not a huge fanof malls, and the Spectrum feels especially over-decorated and grand. The lighting is no different,with strands of light covering the trees and draping across walkways, and fluorescent signs in various places; however, this photo shows one aspect of the overall lighting that I did appreciate and find effective. While the general lighting was cooler white lights that led to a more cold, disconnected feeling, these lamps with their warm projected light created a more welcoming, close feeling within the expansive mall.

The first store that I took a photo of is Hollister. I have never quite understood the lighting in Hollister--it is so dark that you can't even see the clothes! In this photo, you can see the entrance to the store, which doesn't feel very welcoming. Rather, it feels as if you are about to walk into a cave. I can understand their wish to create maybe a "cool" or relaxed atmosphere for teenagers, but at the same time, I think they go overboard by having such dim lighting. The same effect could be created by having sparse low intensity warm lighting, as opposed to having a literally dark store. The way that their lighting is now makes me not want to enter the store.

The second store that I visited was Tommy Bahamas. Overall, I feel like the lighting in this store was very successful. They incorporated a variety of warm white lights in the form of bulbs lining the windows, and lamps on the walls lighting the clothing. They also created a general warm and welcoming feeling with their warm overhead lighting throughout the space. The lighting also added to the sophisticated, yet relaxed feel of the Tommy Bahama clothing and set up of the store. It almost felt like sunlight was pouring into the store (even though it was dark and cold outside) while I was surrounded by Hawaiian print shirts and casual men's clothes. I think this store, while it is targeting a different crowd than Hollister, goes to show that a relaxed, "cool" environment can be created with warm, bright lights, as opposed to a dark lack of lighting.

Week #9 - Lights and Symbols

This week I noticed the first of the Christmas decorations going up, even before it was Thanksgiving. At first I had my standard dismay at the way Christmas seems to come earlier every year, and then I realized with interest what a perfect example these lights were of using light as a symbol. I knew immediately when I looked at this shape of light that it was meant to be a Christmas tree, even though it was blue (not a Christmas color) and had no colored balls etc adorning it. In fact, it didn't even attempt to mimic the shape of branches; it was just a simple blue cone. This made me think of how much light can hint at or suggest certain ideas, without having to spell them out explicitly. As the viewer, we make the jump and our minds fill in the details to match what we expect to see from our association of the light we see and the ideas/feelings we attach to it. This idea will be useful in my own lighting designs, in that we can give them impression of a forest etc. with lighting by capturing the main points in light; we don't necessarily have to worry as much about every little detail as much as the overall feeling we are conveying. I really enjoyed the exploration I got to do with the light gloves in the dance piece I choreographed for Katy to design this week, and will have to think more about light's potential for use as symbols in my future work.