room 55985
08:57 16th july 2186
geo. latitude 4° 38' n
geo. longitude 74° 05' w
julian date 206
declination -11.6029
hour angle [at 09:00] 45°
2186 is not a leap year
for further explanation, derivatives and equations see here
physiology of the photomotor reflex
my design proposal is essentially a giant optical instrument carved into the side of a mountain.
somewhere between astronomical observatory and epic cinema theatre, the form of this design is finely tuned to a rare total solar eclipse.
part of the intention is to explore the periphery of our vision, not just our field of view, but also our range of contrasts, our limits of luminescent perception, pure white and absolute black, our ability to project image, as well as receive. ask the question 'how can this affect space?'
part of the intention is to bring into close relationship the scales at which light affects us; on one hand, the sun illuminates over half our planet with a blinding 90,000 lux from 149,600,000,000 metres, whereas the human eye can adapt to use just 1 lux of light, as from the full moon close to the equator.
image: sketchbook entry for matzine#004. image was experiment in expanding the field of view to include the implausible. you are both behind and in front of a wall.
_
contourcollage
-a-
monumental
subterranean
optical
instrument
-for-
showing
tarkovsky's
solaris
-on-
sixteenth
july
twenty
one
eighty
six
-at-
nine
fourty
two
a
m
"light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. it does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. it gives of itself and is not thereby diminished"
[michael strassfeld]
"it seemed to be a necessary ritual that he should prepare himself for sleep by meditating under the solemnity of the night sky... a mysterious transaction between the infinity of the soul and the infinity of the universe"
[victor hugo, les misérables, 1982, p67]
image: contour-collage of site and entrance
engine room
my latest print is the engine room of my design proposition
from here, extremely long and thin vents channel direct sunlight deep into the heart of the mountain, for processing. this light needs to be measured, controlled, timed and otherwise heavily manipulated before it reaches the screen.
concentrated, the intensity of this light would blind you.
a point of departure: prints in abstract
1, 3 scotopia, 2 trajan's seat
it is time for a point of departure in my work.
a written segment of my thesis is in existence.
existing drawings are being re-evaluated.
fresh drawings are riding that edge of nothingness,
the event horizon.
light is something you can’t touch,
you can’t see it,
move it
or weigh it.
light doesn’t need air.
in the morning,
light visits distant planets
and bounces back to earth,
before you boil your kettle.
and light can travel-time.
if I ask the question ‘what is light?’ my immediate response, as a student of architecture, would be to find an answer here: “architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light” [le corbusier, 1927] but in fact this answer seems to have dodged the question entirely.
