Week 5: LA Nights

Went to REDCAT for the film duo, Obojoca's Extinction Burst Rehearsal program the other night. While standing outside to get tickets at their box office, I was confronted with The Broad all lit up from low angles, cutting into the edges of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's architectural design. The lines of the building are accentuated by the light approaching the building. In contrast, the REDCAT's signature neon "marquee of curvilinear stainless steel"designed by Frank Gehry has a glow the illuminates outward rather than inwards. The vivid neon bounces off the back of the stainless steel curvatures and the light fixtures themselves are "boundless" in a way. These strange shapes of light and design hung over me in a cloudless night. Completely black in the sky with all of the city lights to compete for our attention. 

Week 4: Texture | Shining through

While wracking my brain on what might constitute texture in lighting, I happened to glance over toward my bedroom window and noticed the wide variance of textures that were illuminated by the bright rays of the afternoon sun. The mostly transparent sheer curtain panel created a gentle softening of the sunlight and also added a sense of dimension between the window and the curtain itself. The denser blue curtains succeeded in blocking out most of the light, however the sunlight that succeeded to bleed through highlighted the fabric's rough uneven texture. It also became interesting to notice how the light varied on the different flowers of the orchid. Some flowers seemed to block out the sunlight entirely, while others became brightened and illuminated.

week 4:Texture/ I look at it again

         
               This is a piece I saw in the museum in the summer. The light is unnatural light, but it shows a similar and natural scene. It is the same as the quality of the stage. It is to use realism to express reality, its texture and the warmth of the museum. The light illuminates the image of the cracked earth, which reminds me of the spring festival. If the emotion of the middle focus texture is likened to a large group dance, then the color of the dance itself has a strong color. Is it necessary to let the light Go to focus again? If the texture here symbolizes an abstract emotion, light is also an emotion, how to deal with their relationship, this work is obviously located in the center of the texture itself, the emotional color is strong enough, the light is only an auxiliary paving, presenting an objective The state of the facts makes everything present real and rich. How to deal with the relationship between texture abstract emotions and lighting emotions, through thinking about this work, will be better invested in the next practice!

Week 4: Texture - Natural Gobo

Walls are a great place to display things. This photo does not portray all of the texture I saw on this single wall while visiting Colorado this weekend. The most evident portrayal of texture is the outline of the window being projected on the wall. I thought of it as a natural gobo showing the texture of the tree outside blocking light from entering the room. The outline of each leaf adds texture to the wall that is not normally perceived. The photos hanging on the wall are composed of multiple layers of material and when the light shines on them, it adds dimension and texture to the outline of the trees. Finally, the wall itself is full of texture, but this is not perceived from this view. The drywall is full of texture which is particularly seen when the light hits it at an angle. I'm interested in the illusion of creating texture with shadow on a textured surface. It is a mystifying feeling.

Week 4:Texture | Eyes of the light

This is a picture taken on top of a beach. The stones in the water are colorful and very beautiful. Of course, the texture of each stone is also great. It looks nothing as usual, but when I check with this photo and magnify it, I found
every rock that has water and also has a spot in the light, like a small eye. The sun's light beams from different positions as it changes direction and these tiny objects receive the gift of the sun lights.It is impossible for a stone to shine. Because of the force of water and the refraction of light.

In this photo taken today, my parents and I went to San Diego to see the shimmering waves of the sea. I can't help but want to take this picture, and the same feeling as the above picture, the light will be easier to project onto the smooth object, this is just my opinion.

Week 4: Texture | Backyard Findings

Decided to take a closer look around my backyard this morning before work to see what sort of textures surround me everyday. In the fire pit I found ashes mixed with cigarettes and orange peels, and right beside it a pile of ready-to-use wood. As I was noting the textures, I was questioning why certain textures were more visible than others. For example, in the fire pit picture, I feel the textures of the ashes and the orange peels are more visible in the shadows than the light. However, in the wood picture, I notice the texture of the wood more in the light than I do the shadows. Not sure why this would be...could it be something to do with the relation of light to color? My guess would be the following: since the ashes and undersides of the orange peel are more white than the wood, more light is reflected off the ashes and orange peels than off the wood, leading the eye to see less texture.

Week 4: Texture | From the Ground Up

When thinking of textures I immediately thought of the parking lot surface. I have always noticed the circles and texture of the ground when I walk through the lot. This photo however though is really only exciting in terms of the texture not really about the light.  Since it is a covered parking lot you do not get much sunlight directly into the space. It is more of this spot is darker due to the sun being blocked and this spot is a little lighter cause we are near an exit and open slot in the structure. I felt as if you could see the defined circles better when you were in the darker areas of the parking lot. This picture reminds me bit about the shins and if you are standing in front of them then it blocks the light.

As I was writing this first bit, I started to notice the texture of the new turf they put in near eco grounds, so I took another photo. The light creeping through the trees really makes the grass come to life more so than the bench in the background since it is flat with no texture.

Week 4: Texture | Wall-to-wall Carpet

Let me preface by saying, I despise this carpet. I haven’t lived in a place with carpet in many years and it does not feel cozy or inviting, it just feels dirty. The bulbous-ness of each looped weave and the way that it catches and holds onto every piece of dirt, dust, and hair is just gross. That being said, I will now talk about why I love this carpet and this light.

Have you heard of the term or phrase "komorebi" (in Japanese: 木漏れ日)? It is literally a compound of the words: “tree” + “leaking” + “sunlight”. The sun that filters through the trees layers light in different intensities onto this thick woven fabric that covers my floors is a sight that I often let my gaze rest on. I love the way the harsh mid-afternoon sunlight is softened by the curves of the maple leaves outside, changing the light’s texture to illuminate the carpet.

More often than not, my pup will lie in these sunny spots to soak up the heat and Vitamin D in her fur. The sunlight doesn’t feel so severe when she lies in her pools of light, rather, the rays caress her form, giving her gentle outlines of her super muscular body. (She’s a pit mix and she is stacked). Because of her and the tree outside, they make me hate the carpet a little less.

<<< A puppy nose for your day. (I love her little graying chin hairs and the ridges of her nose).

Week 3：Strive for performance

This image took by last weekend at Manhattan Beach. It's a nice sunset. And the sun uses it's rest of energy to generate light and heat，likes a person who wants to strive for performance with his whole energy. It also likes a light we used on the stage. It reminds me of the “hope” we made with the underground student. It is the same color I remembered. And when I raised my arm, it‘s a little bit dazzling. In this image, I also feel that.
And I want to say, on the stage, we can feel some idea from lights, and lights as well. They interact with each other.

Week 3: Night Light

Parking structures seem to be interesting lighting subjects. While riding my bike the other night, the shapely light patterns coming from this parking structure caught my eye. When I stopped to observe the setting, I was more interested by the other sources of light than those coming from the building. With the moon illuminating the clouds above and the street lamps illuminating the surrounding trees, I felt a sense of warmth and coolness simultaneously. This sense of warmth and coolness add a lot of feeling to the neutral man-made structure that initially caught my eye. I'm not sure how to exactly pinpoint that feeling or emotion, but I think it is a sense of raw reality contrasting sterile, mathematical order.

Week 3: Bars of light

Walking outside a restaurant at Park Place in the twilight just after sundown, I noticed the unique design of the parking lot lights. While the ubiquitous parking lot flood lights were present, I saw an array of vertically oriented light bars scattered across the parking lot. The bars were brightly accented beacons in otherwise dim car filled space. While hard to fully perceive from the photograph, it brought to mind the image of fireflies in a forest. In addition to the added design element, these lights highlighted an interesting aspect of depth perception. While in reality all the same size, the perceived size differentiation of the light bars made the lot seem larger and helped to guide the eye across the otherwise visually dull parking lot.

Week 3: "The second act"

          This scene is what I have met every day for the past six months. The same composition, the same light, I remember that when I saw it for the first time, I felt very dramatic. The vegetation covered with walls was very vital, but gradually I I forgot about its existence, but just this week, after a strong wind, it caught my attention, the vegetation covering the wall was blown off, if the scene I was about to forget was drama. The first act, then this scene is like the "second act" of drama. I am thinking about the relationship between lights and objects. The light atmosphere and scene of the first scene are harmonious, and it seems to describe the lush sunshine. Green life, the second scene of the light atmosphere and the scene is the contrast relationship, or the same lighting atmosphere, and the scene is messy, instantly feel the same lighting atmosphere invisibly recorded two time and space, standing in the "second scene" scene In front and standing in the same warm light of warmth, then I close my eyes, and the "first act" that is about to be forgotten slowly comes to mind...

Week 3: Coffee and Shadows

Something about light shining through the windows in the morning is very satisfying. I was waiting by the counter and looked over to admire all the different shadows and intensity of light reflecting into the kitchen.  The textures of the different appliances gave off different types of reflections. The countertop having a bit of a glare bouncing back onto the toaster. The paper towel absorbed the light and gave the small indents a bit more definition. With the window being opened part way, I could see the change in intensity and color as well from where the light was shining through the open window and where the light was shining through the window and screen.

Week 3: Under the 73

Typically I don't take a second look at the structures under freeways, but the early morning time for this class gets me up at an hour where the light beautifully cascades on rather simple structures, transforming them into these captivating almost art-like pieces. These pillars under the 73 freeway happened to catch my eye because of how their shape was amplified by the sunlight rising in the east, maybe much like how shins give shape to the body when on stage? I also was drawn to how the light from the blue sky shapes the freeway shape in a satisfyingly symmetrical way. The picture gives me the feeling of the natural world waking up and coming to life, while juxtaposed with the industrial feel of the cement freeway structures.

Week 3: Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

This image reminds of, I'm a little embarrassed to say, John Mayer's song "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room." I think because of the title of the song. (I just re-read the lyrics and the content is less than great). The initial image that the phrase "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" conjures feels something like what is pictured here.

While I was in Chicago this past weekend, I woke up to this scene--deep beet red curtains that only allowed in slivers of light from the morning sun. It felt warm and isolating in ways. Waking up in an unfamiliar place with scratchy sheets, room bleak, and tired from a day of traveling. The light piercing through as an unequivocal sign to start the day's work.

Words: slicing, isolating, morning, warm, resistant to wake up.

week 2:Inspiration|Through the curtains

  This scene is what I see at my desk every day. When I turn my roller blinds every day, the sun will cast its shadow on the wall through the curtains. In my opinion, the shadow on the wall is like an Invisible timepieces, showing the movement of time, facing the slowly changing, I often fall into memories with the passage of time, recalling the time spent in this room for half a year, the one who just came during the visit, so my inspiration From time, and everything that shows time, in my opinion, time may be something that seems to change but has not changed, such as the still light and shadow every day, the act of turning the curtain every day, the sun rising every day!

Week 2: Inspiration | Sunny Side

While in New York City this summer, I took this photo of the street where I was staying. This inspirational summer allowed me to reconnect with my former teachers at the Martha Graham School while working on research for my thesis. This street was located in an interesting part of the West Village. It was fairly calm during the day, but at night was very lively with packed restaurants and comedy clubs. In the morning light, I remember thinking how that because of the height of the buildings the summer sun would highlight certain parts of the street. Even though it was a bright cloudless morning, the sun gave a strong waking glow to one side, while leaving the other with a dim shadowed sense that it was still asleep. Reflecting back on this image now, I also find interest in the almost jagged looking outline of the rooftops projected onto the center of the street separating the light and dark.

Week 2: Inspiration - Reflection

I often feel inspired when I see things in a new light. Following a refreshing rain, the setting sun was creating wonderful scenes on the buildings and trees near my apartment. I quickly became more interested in the light being reflected from puddles that usually don't exist on these streets. Instead of observing the light from above the horizon, I was able to see light all the way down to my feet. This photo of a puddle is quite inspiring because it causes me to question the reality of perception. Half of the image is the sky and trees and lamp posts, while half of the image appears to be the same thing but is really just water. I feel inspired to use light to convey something that may not actually be there.

Week 2: Inspiration | Farewell for Now

The people underneath those umbrellas are some of the most influential movers and thinkers I have had the utmost honor and pleasure of studying with. If you are familiar with San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, you know that it's a special place; a space where not only your best physical self is challenged to be present, but your most honest mental and emotional self as well. This photo was taken during a farewell lunch just a few weeks before the Conservatory closed it's doors. As heartbreaking as the closing of a dance institution can be, in the conversations I had revisiting with each of the educators whom had impacted my perspectives on movement and life in such transformative ways, lay a sense of familiar inviting warmth. Within each conversation was a knowingness of the inevitable fate of this wonderful institution balanced with the contentment of what will be. Maybe it was the weather that day, maybe it was the people that were there, but on that particular day was a gathering of reflection that felt like the perfect culmination of the generosity the Conservatory has contributed to movers and shakers who hope to continue the same.

Week 2:Inspiration | Mirror

This is a church from Ulta. It‘s a normal one in the U.S.A.When I had wanted to use my phone to take this scene, I found in front of this building has a
surface of a pond. Then，I was very excited about that. It likes a mirror. This image makes me feel very comfortable. It calls to mind the lighting of David‘s made. It reminds me you can use the different position of lighting to focus on one person's body and produce two magic feeling. Like this photo，It has two sides，one is a building，another is a water reflection of this building. Which is real to the audience?

Photo and lighting both are visual arts，it with spurious. The lighting designer can use this character to make something special.

Week 2: Inspiration | The Giving Tree

One of the first places I went when I arrived on campus last year was Aldrich Park. I went for a tour around campus to find where everything was at, but I was instantly drawn to the park when I noticed it. More specifically I was drawn to this tree. The massive amount of shade it provided, the design of the roots intertwined on the ground, and it also reminded me of the book "The Giving Tree." The other day in class we went to this same tree and it reminded me of how much I admired this spot on campus when I first came to UCI. I often visit or walk by when stressed and it is a delightful part of the park that helps refresh my mind to gather inspiration for upcoming projects needed. Plus it is a nice place to go to relax and people watch. Which sounds creepy I know. It isn't in the middle of the park exactly but its a source of inspiration amongst the trees of Aldrich. 

What I enjoy the most about this tree is that the light coming through the leaves and branches is given a bit of dimension since the roots are lifted up from the ground. You typically see light coming through the trees onto a solid grassy plane. The shadowing within the leaves was also intriguing to me. You can tell where the sun was at when the photo was taken by seeing which half of the tree is in direct sun and the underneath part of half the tree is still shaded from its own leaves and branches.

Week 2: Inspiration | Pothos Friend

This pothos plant has traveled as far as we have. We first adopted the plant while living in Brooklyn, NY, from Natty Garden, a nursery that we passed by every day on our walk to Prospect Park. It lived in a dingy, small apartment on our kitchen window sill where it thrived off of the little bounced light that came through. It spawned many pothos babies in less than ideal conditions, giving us, the human dwellers, life and air. It's ability to survive and persevere is, in itself, a form of inspiration. It's incredible to me that this pothos has traveled coast to coast, most probably coming from a mother pothos that traveled even farther than that. It's adaptability and unrelenting will to live, even with a black thumbed gardener like myself, is a feat of nature. Words that I think about when I look at this photo: sprawling, stretching, lift, curves, new life, hope, and breath.

Week 1:Cool Tones

This image took from the winter in Shanghai last year. I clearly remember that day was the one of the most coldest day in that season. And when I had already finished my lesson, I saw this. Actually, I chosen a lot of different views of this tree. But I chose this position. I know I really love this light likes a pen to drawing the outline of this tree. Obviously,this is also the common way to emphasizing what the choreographer wants to express,like emotion or one person or its one part of body movement.

Another thing,the color is also animportant thing,cause different color means different things. For this image is cool tones，light shines on the surface of this tree，and no leaves here，it seems to everything is vicissitudes of its life. Adding to the snowflakes are falling in the air. In that moment，the temperature of the picture is reduced to zero.And this crowed picture become quiet and peaceful seemingly.

·      When I was finish to taking this photo，I feel a little bit warm from that.Then I put my phone in my pocket，and Breathed a sigh of relief.

Week 1: Architectural Moon

It interests me that each time we look at the moon, we see the same surface. The reason we see what we see is because of the brilliant reflection of the Sun's rays off of the moon's cratered surface. The piece of architecture in this photo is moon-like in that it boldly reflects the light emanating from a breathtaking sunset. A photo of said sunset was also captured, but what interested me more was how the visual appeal of a building was increased as it reflected the beauty of something else. Another factor that contributed to the appeal of this visual encounter was the clarity of the air. The photo was snapped in Los Angeles on an unusually clear evening following a period of smog and smoke filled air. I enjoyed how crisp the view was due to the unhindered light rays.

Week 1: Farmers Market

While walking through the brightly lit LAX Terminal 5 hunting for a quick bite before boarding my flight, I noticed that one of the store fronts seemed to standout from the others. The Farmers Market made an unusual statement among the other terminal stores by utilizing noticeably dimmer and more dramatic lighting choices. Instead of blowing out the full store with bright light like the others, there was a feeling of calm and intimacy to the space which provided a sense relief from the intensity of the otherwise busy pace of the airport terminal. The store used overhead pools of light to highlight specific areas in the store. Dimming the entry and highlighting the back wall also seemed to lure patrons in to explore deeper areas of the store space.

Week 1: A Peaceful Parking Place

When I end my journey from home to school, the parking structure is typically filled with chaos; cars filled with hopeful drivers moving every which way hoping to be the next lucky recipient of an empty parking space. However, on this particular morning, I was able to arrive on campus earlier than usual, and was met with a rather empty parking structure. I decided to find a place to park my car and start my day off with a simple meditation. The top of the parking structure seemed like a fine place to settle, and here I was met with a shy morning light, peeking through the cracks of the overhead structures, reflecting off the small puddles from the rain the night before. I was particularly moved by the subtlety of the light which brought a sense of inviting peace and contentment. I would safely say I am not a morning person, but experiences like these entice me to become one.

Week 1: Traffic Jam Skies

I am often stuck in traffic with the amount of driving I do commuting throughout the Inland Empire. Many times finding new ways to keep myself occupied. While stopped in traffic, no worries I was definitely stopped when I took this photo, I noticed the sun only hitting this one hill. This hill is always where traffic is the most fun and so I have admired the greenery, when It was raining a lot, I have looked upon the unfortunate aftermath of fires on this hill, but I have not recalled seeing the sun hit them in this way.  The reaction I had at first was as if someone had silenced the world, and drowned out my surroundings. I had my music off, which helped make this moment calming and peaceful. It took me out of the frustration of yet again being stuck in traffic.  One thing I did notice too was how different my in-person view of this shot compared to what the photo captured. You obviously are looking at a smaller scale of what I was seeing so I feel that is why it does not give that same effect as when I initially saw this view.

week1：The unreal....

       I came out of the supermarket on Sunday evening. I was shocked by the cloud that appeared in Irvine. I think it is like the Guggenheim Museum I visited a month ago, wow, hanging in the sky of Guggenheim, and The golden color reminds me of Thailand, and it is like a tower. It makes me feel solemn.           Everything seems to be true and not true. The sky is like a mirror... Finally, somehow I suddenly returned to reality, so strange. Cloud will not indicate the arrival of bad weather, network explanation: tower-shaped lucky cloud！

Week 1: Road Trip Feelings

You're driving on the Pacific Coast Highway north, windows down, the rush of cold air from the low hanging clouds fills your lungs, whips through your hair, and you're listening to the sweet sweet tunes of Lucero. This particular moment was shot in just that scenario this past summer. The softness of the fog rolling over the hills, the dreamy-like quality draws me in. It's like waking up from a deep sleep with bleary eyes in the early morning. The neutral palette of colors, mellow blues, browns, and grays, are inviting but can also make me feel so small in such a large world. But, even driving on the highway, I know that seeing this moment is a shared experience by those who were making the same trek and those who live close by. That thought makes me feel more kinship to all of the communities that I am lucky enough to take part in.