The Red and Black

THOMAS WILFRED LOOKS OVER LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
*Expert Installs Scene Projection Apparatus*

# Designer Plans Project
For Continuing Education

By Ann Johnson

In this era of electricity it is easy to overlook the miracle and boundless possibilities of light. That is it is easy for most people, but for Thomas Wilfred, director of the Art Institute of Light in New York, it has meant an intriguing lifetime of research, experiment and design.

Wilfred is busy at the Center for Continuing Education overseeing the installation and operation of his latest product, an especially designed piece of equipment called a scenic projector. This projector makes it possible to produce scenery on a solid white plaster backdrop through the use of electricity and light.

The machine, which is controlled by a small keyboard and is compact enough to be kept in a filing cabinet, promises to eliminate the problems of storage space for conventional heavy canvas backdrops and the impossibility of planning different backdrops for daily shows.

In addition, it will enable an artist to project abstract visual settings for music-centered programs to

be held on the stage of the Continuing Education auditorium.

Wilfred, as a personality, is as interesting and unusual as his designs with light. In 1916 he left Europe where his reputation as a singer of folk-songs was established—he appeared at Royal Command performances in London and Copenhagen—and came to America to raise funds for his light research.

During the twenties, he designed the Clavilux, the first important instrument for the performance of silent visual composition and toured the United States, Canada, Paris, London, and Copenhagen giving recitals.

By appointment purveyors of soap to the