Thinking
about light and place, especially the sun, brings about many memories of
growing up in the south. Long summer days in North Carolina are characterized
by hazy sunlight reflecting off of car roofs and swimming pools. The light quality in the summer is
almost blindingly bright and is associated with scorching hot days. Winters however have much more subdued
natural light with grayer skies. This is contrasted with the occasional
snowfall when the sun reflects off of the snow and ice. This makes the outdoors
seem even brighter and whiter. When
I think of my personal relationship with light and place in my childhood home,
I think of my large east-facing bedroom windows and the natural light that
flooded my room during the day.
Plantation shutters made patterns on my floor that shifted and grew
narrower as the day progressed. This made my room feel a lot roomier and
cheerful, and improved my mood on sunny days.
When
thinking about my experiences in nature, light plays a major role. Walking
along the Eno River in my hometown of Durham, NC, light filtering through the
leaves and reflecting off of the water makes the experience more enjoyable and
intriguing. While walking along the trails, the lighting transforms from being
very shaded to intensely bright within a matter of steps. The varying light
transitioning with the trail makes the outing seem more like an adventure. Another favorite nature spot of mine is
Sunset Beach in North Carolina, where light dazzles the horizon of the ocean in
the morning and blankets the glistening sand, making the beach seem very
peaceful and bright. You could say that the sun hitting the water’s edge is a
“play of brilliants” as described in the reading, a light feature in and of
itself.
Since
I am naturally cold most of the time, I welcome the heat aspects of light in
the climate of my environment most of the year. Much like my cat, I enjoy sitting by my windows when warm
sunlight is pouring through them.
However for a short time during the summer, I appreciate window shading
to keep heat out on very hot summer days, when sunlight can cause a greenhouse
effect in rooms that have windows on two or more walls (especially when one of
the walls is south-facing). My love of heat usually trumps the desire to be
cool, so I enjoy basking in sunrooms surrounded by windows and natural light.
Not only is there an actual heat factor associated with being surrounded by
windows letting in natural light, but there is a perceived warmth coming from
viewing sunlight as well.
Light
and task is very important, since almost all people spend most of the day doing
various tasks. Lighting in the
studio and my apartment are both very important to me, since that is where I do
most of my work. Large windows in
the studio help with bringing in natural light from which to work, but can
problematic when focusing on specific tasks later in the day. I have brought in separate task
lighting into the studio as well as my apartment in order to have more
efficient lighting to complete homework and studio projects. This helps to
reduce eye strain and provide a more pleasant work environment. Task lighting
in the bathroom and the kitchen are other areas where task lighting is key to
me, in order to illuminate surfaces while cooking and getting ready for
class. Since lighting is such a
key factor in daily experiences, it is crucial to have quality light to fit our
needs.
