Light in Literature - A workshop by Ruairí O'Brien

Light in Literature.

Last week I gave a workshop on Light in Literature. I started with a short lecture about the beauty and science of light and the art of working with light.
I explained, using examples from my lighting design and architectural work, what we believe light to be from a technical and scientific point of view. I presented basic theories of the psychology of perception and explained how they may have influenced my own work. 

I used examples from famous works of literature to demonstrate where light had been used to describe an atmosphere as part of the overall dramatic architecture of the story telling or where light was used as a metaphor to deliver a message on a subliminal level. I also discussed with the participants the real work situation of the writer in his space and his personal relationship to his light from daylight and the candle through to the present day use of LED's. 

In the practical session that followed I demonstrated different types of light sources. 
We discussed the atmospheric and technical qualities of each of the light sources on display.

In the third part of the workshop, I asked the group to work with a text I chose from Albert Camus’s “The Stranger”. After the text was analyzed and discussed, we acted out a short scene with the use of the light sources provided. The work was photo documented and a short film was recorded.