Reading Reflection 1

I believe the connection between these readings lies in how they explain that art using light transforms the relationship between the artwork and its space into a perceptual whole. Jack Burnham argues that “The controlled use of light is the most flexible visual art form.” After reading his essay, I understand this to mean that as light art developed, it gradually broke away from the traditional model of art as something that is simply viewed from the outside. In light art, we are not just facing an object, we are entering an environment created by the artwork itself. The development of light art which Burnham outlines feels like a shift from two-dimensional artwork to three-dimensional spatial experience. Light evolves from being a tool into a medium whose own properties—its movement, its interaction with space, and its ability to shape spatial perception—are fully explored.

The phenomenology of light and space is closely connected to perception, as Dawna Schuld writes that it “enables us to observe how our knowledge of the world is shaped not as an object but as an embodied experience with spatial and temporal dimension.” What this suggests to me is that light operates in three-dimensional space in multiple ways to construct specific perceptual situations. Rather than presenting an object to be analyzed, light creates conditions in which space and perception become the focus. Space is no longer just a container, it becomes something actively formed and re-formed by light.

I researched one of the important artists mentioned by Burnham, László Moholy-Nagy. His approach was to use light to expand Constructivism beyond painting. Through cross-media experiments with light, transparency, space, and movement, light was no longer used merely for illumination or projection but it became a material that actively shaped artistic space. In works like the Light-Space Modulator, light moves through mechanical structures, casting reflections and shadows that constantly transform the surrounding room. Moholy-Nagy sought to create a “new vision,” using technology to expand human perception. Through photography, reflection, motion, and light effects, he allowed viewers to see aspects of the world that were previously invisible. For him, light was the primary material for constructing spatial experience.

Another artist, Dan Flavin, uses light to alter how viewers perceive boundaries, scale, and rhythm. Flavin also creates space, but in a quieter way. His works often collaborate with one another within an exhibition, and the light spreads along architectural corners and surfaces, blurring edges and activating the entire room. Instead of directing attention to a single object, his fluorescent installations encourage viewers to become aware of the surrounding space. Light diffuses along the edges of the architecture, making the space itself feel alive. The viewer’s attention shifts from objects to atmosphere.

Robert Irwin, discussed by Schuld, similarly reshapes how we perceive the spaces we inhabit. He resists the idea that viewers should immediately recognize a discrete art object. Instead, his installations are often immaterial and subtle. By manipulating brightness, shadow, and the movement of light, he guides viewers to notice small spatial changes and shifts in perception. The experience is slow and attentive. For me, Moholy-Nagy, Flavin, and Irwin all use light to move art away from traditional object-based forms and toward a new awareness of space itself.

For my own media arts practice, these readings encourage me to pay closer attention to how light shapes and transforms perception within space. I should think about light in a more spatial and three-dimensional way. Not only in terms of color or projection, but in relation to how viewers physically experience an environment. Light can construct a space in which perception itself becomes the subject. Such an experience should be slow and intentional. By working with the properties of light and the structure of space, I hope to create projects that offer viewers a new and conscious awareness of how they see and inhabit the world.

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