The Stories of Light

“To shine light into the depths of the human heart, that is the artist’s calling.” Robert Schumann

What is light? Light is colour. Light is the ideal condition for seeing. A natural phenomenon. The first hit on google tells us that light is an electromagnetic radiation. Some would say: light is liberation, ‘light is life’. Light can be symbolic, or literal. It can even be used as a tool for scientists and artists. In my work ‘The stories of light’, I use the phenomenon of light as a subject to explore and explain my research question ‘How can cross-curricular art education and scientific fields reach, enrich and support each other?’

In my work, I have played with the ultimate collaboration of the worlds of science and art; photography. For photographs are the literal stories of light. My work consists of 3 hanging banners, 2 of which were created by using photographic processes.

The first (left banner) was made using cyanotype. This banner shows a human figure, this figure is made up of different photos of different people. Also, each separate photo in this human being has its own exposure of light. The human figure is both male and female and stands for the life that light gives us, but also for our own reason and our own dream to want to create. We have a desire to imitate our creator, just as children do with their guardian.

The second banner made with a photographic technique is made by paper treated with silver nitrate. On this banner we see the moon and stars giving light in the darkness of the night. We also see nature. When I asked fellow students and friends what they thought of when we heard the word ‘light’, I heard a story about how much they enjoyed seeing the light shining through the leaves.

The last and third banner creates a shadow over the other two banners. A shadow is the presence of darkness in light. This banner is made from drawings of my students. For my research, I wrote  a teaching series to investigate my research question. I asked my pupils to draw what they can still remember from these lessons. During these lessons, we covered the scientific approach to light by performing art education exercises. The images on the other two banners were also produced by placing plastic sheets as in banner 3 over the light-sensitive material. Thus, the process of how the banners are made is also reflected in my work.