"LIGHT AS AN ART MATERIAL AND ITS POSSIBLE SYNCHRONIZATION WITH SOUND."

MY SUBJECT THIS EVENING IS THE ART FORM OF LIGHT. THIS IS NOT A NEW SUBJECT, IT IS CONCERNED WITH AN ART WHICH HAS HAD AS LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AS OTHER ARTS, PERHAPS SLOWLY BUT NATURALLY AND PROGRESSIVELY.

THIS ART IS AN ELABORATION OF THE PHENOMENA OF COLOR AS AN AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE PER SE, FREE FROM MUSICAL OR LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS. HERE COLOR IS NOT IN STATIC BALANCE WITH STATIC SPACE RELATIONS. THE PLASTIC ARTS, ALTHO MAKING USE OF THE SENSATION OF SIGHT, ADDRESS NOT THE EYE BUT THE INTELLECT. FOR EXAMPLE, IN PAINTINGS, THE ONLOOKER IS EXPECTED TO ENJOY THE CLEVER IMITATION OF NATURE - TO BE DECEIVED INTO THINKING THE LIVING PROTOTYPE IS BEFORE HIM. WHEREAS THE ART OF LIGHT STIMULATES OUR VISUAL SENSE DIRECTLY WITH COLOR, FORM AND RHYTHM AND IS THUS COMPARABLE TO THE WAY THE AURAL SENSE IS STIMULATED BY SOUND IN MUSIC. IN PAINTING, THE MEDIUM IS SUBORDINATE TO STORY, SYMBOL OR REPRESNETATION. WE PLAY COLOR AS A STIMULANT BY ITS OWN INHERENT POWERS OF SENSATION, WITHOUT THE ENCUMBRANCE OF LITERARY MEANING, PHOTOGRAPHIC IMITATION, OR SYMBOLISM, AS FOUND IN PAINTING - PAINTING WHICH CREATES AN IMAGE ON A STATIC SURFACE THRU THE MEDIUM OF PIGMENT. IN THE ART OF LIGHT, WE DO NOT CREATE EXTERNAL OBJECTS OR ACTIONS. IN WATCHING A CONCERT OF LIGHT, WE RECOGNIZE THE COLOR COMBINATION IS PRODUCED BY SPECIFIC LIGHT INSTRUMENT, YET OUR ENJOYMENT DOES NOT DEPEND UPON OUR CONCEPTION OF THAT INSTRUMENT, BUT, SOLELY ON THE EFFECT IT PRODUCES: WHEREAS, IN VIEWING A PIECE OF SOULP-TURE, THE RESULTANT SENSATION IS BASED ON THE MENTAL IMAGE EVOKED.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE HISTORY OF PAINTING WILL MAKE APPARENT THE NECESSITY OF KINETIC ART. THE EXHAUSTION OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF STATIC ART FORMS CREATED A DEMEND FOR A NEW MEDIUM OF EXPRESSION. THE MEDIUM MUST BE (1) KINETIC, (2) CAPABLE OF CONTROLLED VARIATION, MADE UP ENTIRELY (3) OF VISUAL MATERIALS, (4) AND HAVING PRINCIPLES OF INTRINSIC ORDER IN THESE MATERIALS (MUCH IN THE SENSE IN WHICH MUSIC IS CONSTITUTED IN ORDERED STRUCTURES OF ITS MATERIAL: SOUND).

IN THE BEGINNINGS OF ARTS AND ON THRU THE AGES, FROM THE CAVE-MAN TO THE IMPRESSIONIST, PRIMARY STANDARDS OF PERFECTION WERE BASED ON THE REALISTIC REPRESENTATION OF THE EXTERNAL APPEARANCE OF NATURE.

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS, FRESH THEORIES OF COLOR RULES OF PERSPECTIVE AND OBSERVATION OF LIGHT IN NATURE ALL CONTINUED TO

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AID PERFECTION IN SIMULATION OF THE OBJECTIVE WORLD. IN THE RENAISSANCE, A LEONARDO'S SCIENCE COULD BUT EASE MORE DETAILED AND IMITATIVE DELINEATION OF WHAT THE EYE SEES. THE ARTIST LEARNED TO DRAW AND CONQUERED THE DIFFICULTIES BASED ON IGNORANCE OF ANATOMY AND PERSPECTIVE. NOW HE COULD ADVANCE EXPERIMENTALLY IN RENDERING CHIARASCURO: LIGHT CONSIDERED STATIONALLY AS IT AFFECTS THE LOCAL COLOR OF OBJECTS IN NATURE. PAINTERS SOON COULD RENDER WITH STARTLING REALISM THE NATURAL APPEARANCE OF OBJECTS IN STATIC LIGHT. STILL THE ARTIST NEGLECTED THE POSSIBILITIES OF USING HIS OBSERVATIONS FOR A SENSATION VALUE.

WITH TURNER AND CONSTABLE, CAME AN AWAKENING INTEREST IN LIGHT AS COLOR, SUBORDINATING THE FORMOR EMPHASIS ON OBJECTIVE FORMS. HERE BEGAN THE STUDY OF IMPRESSION OF LIGHT AND COLOR PER SE, AS AGAINST ITS EFFECTS ON THE LOCAL COLORS IN OBJECTIVE NATURE. THE FRENCHMEN, MONET AND PIGGARO, COMING TO LONDON, WERE INFLUENCED BY TURNER'S IDEAS. AS IMPRESSIONISTS, OBJECTIVELLY-MINDED, STUDIED LIGHT IN ORDER TO RENDER REALISTICALLY EPHEMERAL CHANGES IN NATURE. THEY USED JUXTAPOSITION OF TOUGHES OF COLOR TO GIVE THE ONLOOKER THE APPEARANCE RATHER THAN THE SENSATION OF KINETIC LIGHT IN NATURE. RENOIR EXHAUSTED THE IDEAS AS RENDERED ON A STATIC SURFACE OBJECTIVELY.

WITH CEZANNE AND HIS FOLLOWERS WE HAVE AN ABSTRACT ART OF PAINTING TAKING FORM. CEZANNE USED THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN COLOR AND FORM, DISCARDING THE FORMER MIXTURE OF LOCALIZED LIGHT AND SHADE. BY STRESSING RELATIONSHIP, HE LIFTED COLOR FROM THE MIRE OF IMITATING OBJECTIVE NATURE TO PRODUCING A VISUAL SENSATION IN ITSELF. HIS PAINTINGS OF STILL-LIFES: APPLES AND TABLECLOTH, ARE NOT CONCIEVED IN A SPIRIT OF OBJECTIVE REPRESENTATION; THEY ARE ORGANIZED GROUPS OF FORMS HAVING RELATIONSHIPS, BALANCED PROPORTIONS AND VISUAL ASSOCIATIONS. HIS USE OF COLOR ON A STATIC SURFACE REACHED A POINT WHERE THE NEXT STEP DEMANDED AN INTRODUCTION OF TIME SEQUENCE AND A RICHER TEXTURAL RANGE.

WITH THE NEO-IMPRESSIONISTS, CEANNE'S LEAD WAS OVERLOOKED, IN AN INTEREST TO PERFECT TECHNICAL TRICKS OF PLACING COLOR ON CANVAS TO ENHANCE REALISM. THEY BASED THEIR NEW TECHNICS ON A SO-GALLED COLOR-SCIENCE DERIVING FROM CHEVRUIL'S PARTIALLY INACCURATE SYSTEM AND AN INCOMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF THE YOUNG-HELMHOLTZ THEORIES.

THE CUBISTS DISDAINED THE TRICKS OF TECHNIC IN ORDER TO BREAK THE BONDS OF REPRESENTATION OF AN OBJECTIVE WORLD. THEY CAST ASIDE THE RULES OF PERSPECTIVE, THE CONVENTION OF PRECONCEIVED SUBJECTS. THE CUBISTS TRIED TO PRODUCE ON A STATIC SURFACE A SENSATION TO THE EYE, ANALOGOUS TO THE SENSATION OF SOUND TO THE EAR. THAT IS, BY THE DEVICE OF PRESENTING SIMULTANEOUSLY WITHIN THE VISUAL FIELD THE COMBINED ASPECTS OF THE SAME OBJECT VIEWED FROM MANY DIFFERENT ANGLES OR AT DIFFERENT INTERVALS.

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THEY TRIED TO ORGANIZE FORMS DISTANTLY RELATED TO FAMILIAR OBJECTS TO CONVEY SUBJECTIVE EMOTIONS AROUSED BY CONTEMPLATION OF AN OBJECTIVE WORLD. PICASSO SAID OF THE CUBISTS "AS ARTISTS THEY CREATE OBJECTS BORN OF PERSONAL COMBINATIONS."

THE FUTURISTS SOUGHT TO COMPOSE PICTURES BUILT UP OF VARIOUS SUBJECT MATTERS DERIVED FROM PERCEPTIONS MADE AT DIFFERENT TIMES TO INDUCE IN THE SPECTATOR AN APPRECIATION OF THE SET OF EXPERIENCES, NOT UNDERGONE BY THE ARTIST SIMULTANEOUSLY.

THE NEXT STEP WAS SYNCHRONIZATION (MORGAN RUSSELL AND S.MACDONALD WRIGHT). THEY CONSIDERED ORGANIZING ABSTRACT FORM WITH ABSTRACT COLOR TO CONVEY AN AESTHETIC IDEA UNASSOCIATED WITH IDEAS OF RELIGION, LITERATURE, ETHICS OR DEDICATION. THEY WERE LIMITED, AS THEIR ONLY PURPOSE WAS TO STIMULATE THE EMOTION BY COLOR AND THAT A STATIC COLOR.

THE ELEMENT OF MUSIC APPEARS IN THE PAINTINGS OF KANDINSKY. HE PAINTED ABSTRACT COMPOSITIONS BASED ON AN ARBITRARY CHROMATIC SCALE OF SENSES. TO HIM "KEEN YELLOW LOOKS SOUR, RECALLING THE TASTE OF A LEMON; GREEN IS THE BOURGEOIS, THE SELF-SATISFIED, NARROW ETC. ETC..." THE TITLES OF HIS PAINTINGS REFLECT HIS PREOCCUPATION WITH A COLOR - SOUND ANALOGY, FOR EXAMPLE: COMPOSITION. No. 2, SONATAS, ETC...

THRU ALL THESE EXPERIMENTS, THESE CENTURIES THE ARTISTS HAS CHANGED HIS MEDIA BUT LITTLE. HIS SURFACES HAVE REMAINED STATIC. HIS TECHNICS HAVE DEVELOPED A VIRTUOSITY THAT HAS RUN ITS GAMUT OF TRICKS. SAND AND GLASS, EMPTY CANVAS, ANYTHING FOR NEW TEXTURES BEYOND THE DOTS, THE DASHES, THE BRUSH STROKE OF SHEER PAINT. THROUGHOUT HE HAS SOUGHT TO CAPTURE REALISM BY RENDERING STATIC ACTION, BY OPTICAL ILLUSION OF DISTORTION OR EXAGGERATION, BY ARRANGEMENTS OF LINE AND COLOR CONTRASTS. EVEN BY MECHANICAL CONTRIVANCES TO ACTUALLY MOVE THE STATIC SURFACE TO GIVE THE ILLUSION OF LIFE. THE ART OF PAINTING HAS REACHED A POINT WHERE IT DEMANDS A FEASIBLE TIME ELEMENT PLUS PLASTICITY AND THE MEDIUM OF LIGHT IS NEXT LOGICAL STEP. THE ELABORATION OF STATIC SURFACE HAS EXHAUSTED ITS POSSIBILITIES. THE ARTIST WISHES TO CREATE A WORLD OF COLOR AND FORM IN WHICH THE ELEMENTS ARE IN A STATE OF CONTROLLABLE FLUX, REQUIRING THAT COLOR, FORM AND DIRECTION BE SUBJECT TO ANY CONCEIVABLE MODIFICATION.

ARTISTS HAVE NOT HAD AT THEIR DISPOSAL THE MEANS TO PRODUCE THE SPECIFIC COLORS OF THEIR ACTUAL INTENTIONS, SO THAT SUCH AN ART OF COLOR AS WOULD BE AT ALL ANALOGOUS TO MUSIC REMAINS TO BE ACHIEVED.

IF BY SOME PROCESS OF TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT WE HAD HAD THE MEANS TO CONTROL LIGHT AT A CHRONOLOGICALLY EARLIER

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DATE THERE IS NOTHING IN THE INHERENT NATURE OF THE ARTS OF LIGHT AND PAINTING THAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THEM FROM BEING ELABORATED SIMULTANEOUSLY. THEY COULD HAVE DEVELOPED DURING THE SAME PERIOD AS RELATEDLY AS PAINTING AND MUSIC. IT IS MERE COINCIDENCE THAT PAINTING IS EXHAUSTED AT THE TIME THE ART OF LIGHT IS ON THE ASCENDENCY.

AS EARLY AS THE 17TH CENTURY, THERE SEEMED TO BE SOME DOUBT AS TO HOW IMPRESSIVE THE ART OF LIGHT WOULD BE IF IT DID EXIST. TO THIS LOUIS BERTRAND CASTEL (OF THAT PERIOD AND INVENTOR OF ONE OF THE FIRST KNOWN LIGHT INSTRUMENTS) REPLIED THAT THOSE WHO ARE DOUBTFUL OF THE PLEASURE TO BE DERIVED FROM THE "CLAVESSIN" OUGHT TO KNOW THAT THE FLASH OF LIGHTNING LEAVES THE SOUND OF THUNDER VERY MUCH BEHIND; AND THAT IF ONE COMBINED THE MUSICAL CLAVESSIN WITH OCULAR THE EAR WOULD HAVE, AS IT WERE, THE REFLECTIONS OF THE PLEASURE OF THE EYE. IT HAS NEVER BEEN SAID THAT "TO HEAR IS TO LIVE" BUT THRUOUT ALL AGES LIFE AND LIGHT HAVE BEEN SYNONYMOUS."

CASTEL WAS A MATHEMATICIAN AND LAUNCHED INTO THE FIELD OF A KINETIC ART FORM OF LIGHT AS A THEORIST. BUT HE WAS TAUNTED SO FOR HIS IDEAS, THAT HE CONSTRUCTED AN INSTRUMENT IN SELF-DEFENSE. IT SEEMS A CRUDE CONTRAPTION TO US, BUT SEEMS TO HAVE IMPRESSED HIS CONTEMPORARIES. JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU SPEAKS OF CASTEL IN HIS "CONFESSIONS" MENTIONING THE CLAVESSIN OCULAIRE.

EXISTING INSTRUMENTS OF LIGHT ARE LIMITED TO A SERIES OF FORMS, THEY INTRODUCE THE TIME-SEQUENCE, A GREATER LUMINOSITY, BUT DEPRIVE THE ARTIST OF THE POWER INHERENT IN CONTROL OF FORM, THE BASIC PLASTICITY OF LINE. THE INSTRUMENTS USING IMAGES OF CONTRIVANCES AS FORMS ARE MORE STIMULATING THAN THE INSTRUMENTS THE AMERICAN VAN-DEERING EXIBITED IN 1913. HE WORKED OUT TWO INSTRUMENTS: 1. EMPLOYED A SERIES OF HYDRAULIC PISTONS, BY MEANS OF WHICH LIQUID COLORS, DISSOLVED IN WATER, COULD BE BLENDED IN A GLASS TANK; 2. CONSISTED OF TISSUE PAPER ROLLS ON WHICH HAD BEEN PAINTED VARIOUS COLOR BLENDINGS, THESE WERE MOVED PAST AN APERTURE IN A BOX IN WHICH AN ELECTRIC BULB ILLUMINATED THEM FROM THE BACK.

ON THE HEELS OF CASTEL CAME MORE EXPERIMENTORS AND THEORISTS BUT THEIR EFFORTS HAVE BEEN LIMITED TO A LARGE EXTENT TO INTERPRETING SOUND THRU LIGHT. EVEN TODAY, THE MAJORITY OF WORK BEING DONE IN THE FIELD OF LIGHT AS A KINETIC ART FORM, IS BEING DONE BY MEN OF MUSICAL BACKGROUND.

THIS SEEMS TO INDICATE THAT THE TRANSITION FROM A STATIC SURFACE TO AN ART THAT DEVELOPES IN TIME, IS GREATER THAN THE STEP FROM ONE KINETIC ART FORM TO ANOTHER, EVEN THOUGH THEY DEAL WITH DIFFERENT SENSES OF PERCEPTION. BUT MOST OF

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THESE MEN ARE BEGINNING TO FEEL THAT LIGHT AS ARTISTIC MATERIAL MUST BE FURTHER INVESTIGATED AND A MORE PLASTIC INSTRUMENT CONSTRUCTED BEFORE THEY CAN ACHIEVE THE DESIRED EFFECT THRU THE SYNCHRONIZATION OF LIGHT AND SOUND.

LIGHT AS ART MATERIAL FIRST APPEALED TO MEN ACCUMATED TO DEALING WITH SOUND BECAUSE MUSIC IS THE ONLY KINETIC ART OF PURE FORM WITH A GREAT RANGE OF ART EXPERIENCE. MUSIC WILL CERTAINLY BE REFERRED TO AGAIN AFTER AN ADEQUATE INSTRUMENT IS BUILT, AS THE OBJECTIVE INVESTIGATION OF MUSICAL WORKS REVEAL THE GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOSITION, WHICH MAY BE APPLIED TO ANY KINETIC ART EXPRESSION TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE PECULIARITIES OF THE ARTISTIC MATERIAL.

IN "LA MUSIQUE DES COULEMS" (1900), FABRE OBSERVES THAT MUSIC OCCURS NOT IN SPACE BUT IN TIME, AND THAT A COLOR-MUSIC COULD EITHER TAKE PLACE IN SPACE: AS IN THE CASE OF JUXTAPOSED OR MOVING COLORS, OR IN TIME, AS IN THE CASE OF CHANGING COLORED LIGHT FILLING THE VISUAL FIELD. HE THINKS COLOR-MUSIC LIKELY TO DEVELOPE FIRST ON THE LINES OF THE LATTER MODE. HE ALSO FEELS THAT IT WILL BE A SELF-SUFFICIENT ART IN THE FUTURE, BUT THAT AT FIRST IT WILL BE PRESENTED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH MUSIC. TIME HAS PROVED THAT HE WAS WRONG IN THIS SUPPOSITION, FOR IT IS MORE DEVELOPED AS AN INDEPENDENT ART FORM. BUT HE DOES REMARK, CORRECTLY, ON THE DIFFERENCE BE TWEEN VISION AND AUDITION; THE INABILITY OF THE EAR TO LOCALIZE OR TO PRODUCE SEPERATE IMAGES OF SOUND. HE GIVES THREE FACTORS TO BE TAKEN IN CONSIDERATION IN PRESENTATION: (1) THE POSITION OCCUPIED BY EACH COLOR AT ANY TIME OR MOMENT; (2) THE RELATIVE POSITION OF EACH COLOR, CONSIDERED AS A PATCH, LARGE OR SMALL; (3) THE GROUPING OF THOSE COLORS WHICH ARE TO BE JUXTAPOSED WITHOUT A DARK INTERVAL.

A. WALLACE REMINGTON, OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, LONDON, IS A PROMINENT WORKER IN THIS FIELD. HE FELT THAT WHETHER, OR HOW FAR THE PHYSICAL ANALOGY BETWEEN THE SPECTRUM-BAND AND THE OCTAVE HOLDS GOOD OR HAS ITS COUNTERPART IN SENSATION IS A SECONDARY MATTER AND ONE OPEN TO QUESTION, BUT ON BROAD LINES HE FELT THAT THE DEEPER POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN THE EFFECTS OF COLOR AND MUSICAL SOUNDS UPON US ARE SO STRONG AND THEY CANNOT BE DISPUTED BY ANY UNPREJUDICED PERSON. HE GAVE SEVERAL HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL DEMONSTRATIONS OF HIS INSTRUMENT BEFORE HIS DEATH IN 1918.

IT SEEMS THAT WITH HIS INSTRUMENT HE COULD PROJECT A SPOT UPON COLORED BACKGROUNDS: THIS SPOT BEING MADE TO MOVE SLOWLY OR RAPIDLY. THE SPOT COULD BE MADE TO MOVE AT SUCH A SPEED THAT A LINE OR PATTERN WAS FORMED. OTHER SPOTS WERE ADDED IN STATIONARY OR IN RAPID MOVEMENT, AND THOSE MOVEMENTS MIGHT BE HARMONIC MOTIONS PROVIDING VARIOUS CURVED FIGURES. BY MEANS OF RETICULATED DIAPHRAGMS, INTERWOVEN PATTERNS, FIXED OR MOVING - WERE ATTEMPTED OF TWO, THREE OR MORE COLORS AND

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REMINGTON REMARKS THAT SOME OF THOSE TRACERIES WERE OF EXTRAORDINARY BEAUTY. HE DID NOT NEGLECT THE QUESTION OF THE INTRODUCTION OF SHAPES AND EXPERIMENTED WITH THE "WATTS-HUGHES" SOUND-FORMS WHICH WERE INTERPOSED IN THE PROJECTION SYSTEM. THOSE FORMS WERE OF COURSE, FIXED; BUT, SOME VARIATION WAS OBTAINED BY MOVING THEM AND CHANGING THE COLOR OF THE LIGHT. SUCH ARBITRARY SHAPES WOULD BE SUGGESTIVE, BUT WOULD **NOT** PROVIDE A METHOD OF COMPOSITION WHICH WOULD GIVE A CONTINUOUS CHANGE OF SHAPE, PREDETERMINED BY THE COMPOSER.

REMINGTON HAD VARIOUS TYPES OF SCREENS. THE SIMPLEST A PLAIN FLAT SURFACE OF WHITE. WHITE DRAPERY HUNG IN FOLDS WAS FOUND TO GIVE MORE "QUALITY", AND THIS WAS TRUE OF ALL SURFACES POSSESSING A ROUGH TEXTURE, OR "PILE" SUCH AS VELVET. VERTICAL LAYERS OF WHITE CHORDS WERE HUNG IN FRONT OF HIS SCREEN AND GAUZE VEILS OF DIFFERENT DEGREES OF OPACITY.

AFTER REMINGTON, CAME THE GROUP OF MEN MENTIONED EARLIER THIS EVENING---EXPERIMENTERS WHO INTERCEPT THE PATH OF LIGHT IN THEIR INSTRUMENTS WITH BITS OF WIRE, GLASS, ETC. -- AND ACHIEVE EFFECTS BY SLIDING THEIR SOURCE OF ILLUMINATION IN AND OUT OF FOCUS; THERBY CAUSING THE IMAGE OF ITS FILAMENT TO BE PROJECTED ON THE SCREEN.

THERE IS ONE PRESENT-DAY INSTRUMENT INVENTED BY A. B. KLEIN, WHICH IS OLUMSY AND LACKS PLASTICITY, BUT THEORETICALLY IT IS SOUND AS FAR AS IT GOES.

THE KEYBOARD OF THIS INSTRUMENT PROVIDES CONTROL OF

(1) A SHUTTER WITH FOUR OPENINGS IN THE FORM OF SLITS OF DIFFERENT WIDTHS FOR REGULATION THE PURITY OF THE SPECTRUM.

(2) ELEVEN FIXED SPECTRAL SHUTTERS FOR ELEVEN SPECTRAL WAVE GROUPS.

(3) ONE VARIABLE SLIT WITH JAWS WHICH MAY BE INDEPENDENTLY MOVED ACROSS THE PLANE OF THE SPECTRUM.

(4) TWO DIAPHRAGMS, ONE FOR THE SPECTRAL LIGHT AND ONE FOR THE WHITE LIGHT OPERATED TOGETHER BY THE SAME MOTOR.

(5) ELEVEN FIXED WHITE LIGHT SHUTTERS GIVING A SCALE OF WHITE LIGHT.

CONTROL No. 1, REGULATES THE WIDTH OF A SLIT WHICH DETERMINES THE PURITY OF THE SPECTRUM. THIS SHUTTER HAS FOUR OPENINGS, THE SMALLEST PROVIDING THE PUREST SPECTRUM. IT IS CONTROLLED BY A LEVER ON A QUADRANT ON THE RIGHT OF THE KEYBOARD. THE MOVEMENTS OF THE HANDLE MAKES VARIOUS CONTACTS ACTUATING SEVERAL ELECTRO-MAGNETS WHICH OPEN THE SHUTTERS TO THE DESIRED EXTENT.

CONTROL No. 2, IS THE SPECTRUM SHUTTER MECHANISM, WHICH IS REALLY THE HEART OF THE INSTRUMENT. THE ELEVEN ELECTRO-MAGNETS WHICH MOVE THE SHUTTERS ARE CONTROLLED BY ELEVEN PIANO

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KEYS IN THE ORDER OF C TO B, THE KEYS CONTROL THE COLORS IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER: RED, RED-ORANGE, ORANGE, YELLOW-ORANGE, YELLOW, YELLOW-GREEN, GREEN, BLUE-GREEN, BLUE, BLUE-VIOLET, VIOLET AND RED-VIOLET. THOSE COLORS ARE AT THEIR MANIMUM DEGREE OF SATURATION. ALL SHADES AND VARIETIES ARE SECURED BY COMBINING THEM AND MIXING AND SUBTRACTING WHITE LIGHT.

AS FAR AS COLOR PRODUCTION GOES, THIS INSTRUMENT IS ALL RIGHT, BUT THE EFFECT ON THE SCREEN IS INADEQUATE AS THE LIGHT FORMS EITHER HORIZONTAL BANDS OF COLOR OR COMPLETELY DIFFUSED COLOR SPOTS.

THIS BRINGS US TO THE PROBLEM OF PRESENTATION -- THAT IS THE CONTROL OF SPATIAL FORMS. THERE ARE, ROUGHLY SPEAKING THREE MODES WE COULD EMPLOY:

1. SUCCESSION OF COLORS, IN SUCCESSION ONE AT A TIME FILLING COMPLETELY THE VISUAL FIELD.

2. JUXTAPOSED COLORS IN SUCCESSION; MOVING VERTICALLY, HORIZONTALLY CHANGING AREAS AND POSITIONS BUT NOT OVERLAPPING OR BLENDING.

3. THE IDEAL: SUCCESSIVE OR SIMULTANEOUS GROUPS OF COLOR PATCHES WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT BE JUXTAPOSED, OVERLAPPED, BLENDED, BE OF ANY SHAPE AND NOT NECESSARILY UNIFORM. THIS WOULD BE THE PLASTIC INSTRUMENT OF THE ARTIST.

PRESUPPOSING THE EXISTENCE OF AN INSTRUMENT WHICH GIVES US SUCH CONTROL, A FORMAL ART-LANGUAGE OF LIGHT CAN BE CONSTRUCTED WITH AN ALPHABET OF CERTAIN SCALES OF DIFFERENTIATION, EITHER OF HUE, LUMINOSITY AND SATURATION. PRESUMABLY COMPOSITIONS OF LIGHT CAN ONLY BE RECORDED BY NOTION OF SOME KIND. THIS NOTATION NECESSITATES AN INDICATION OF DIFFERENCE WHETHER OF LINE, OR LUMINOSITY, OR SATURATION. THIS DIFFERENTIATION DEPENDS UPON THE POWERS OF PERCEPTION OF THE EYE. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SUITABLE DIVISIONS OF HUES, LUMINOSITIES, OF DEGREES OF SATURATION IS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SCALES.

THEREFORE, LET US TAKE AS A PREMISE THAT SCALE, INTERVALS AND CHORDS ARE INEVITABLE IN ESTABLISHING AN ART OF LIGHT. THE ADVOCATES OF AN ART OF LIGHT ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS:

1. THOSE WHO ARE OF THE OPINION THAT THIS ART SHOULD DEVISE ITS OWN SCALES OF HUE, LUMINOSITY AND SATURATION THRU THE AID OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND ARTISTIC EXPERIMENT.

2. COMPRISES THOSE WHO ARE OF THE OPINION THAT THERE ARE MANY ADVANTAGES TO BE GAINED BY THE ADOPTION OF THE EXISTING SCALES OF SOUND.

LET US BEGIN WITH THE SIMPLEST FORM, THE ART OF LIGHT COULD TAKE. THIS COULD BE THE MORE SUCCESSTIVE CHANGES OF LIGHT SO DIRECTED AS TO FILL THE VISUAL FIELD.