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Project

Pigments and Lumens

Nina Lutz

This pedagogy of experiments seeks to accurately model and manufacture a new form of lighting fixtures and framework around architectural lighting. This is an ongoing project, so please be expecting more updates and materials. 

These new fixtures are made of polyester resin and a particle distribution called a colloid. Unlike traditional light bulb models, rather than having illumination come from individual lighting fixtures that are wired to a common electric source, we are using one lighting source in the form of a laser to illuminate each fixture.

By using controlled resin casting alongside numerical simulation of structured colloids, we can program and evaluate different substances held in distribution with a 9 dimensionality lighting model. This allows us to understand the type of lighting output that can be achieved with various materials and shapes, as well as predict the aesthetic properties that these lighting sources may allow us. From various colors to different glittery reflects, this framework allows both technical and artistic framework. 

We have also developed a grammar and method to manufacture fixtures that use free air diffusion rather than colloidal resins. Furthermore, there is flexibility in what materials the actual colloids can be fabricated in.

This is ongoing work and will have a full demonstration soon. This work started as an extension and more technically rigorous project than the art project Cosmetic Light from Neri Oxman's Design Across Scales class.