Into the Light - Esther

Despite (or because of) being brought up in the church, I’m not a religious person. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the positive aspects present in all religions. After all, it would be downright unpleasant to argue against alms-giving & it seems churlish not to feel thankful from time to time. I’m very partial to the “treating others as you’d have them treat you” thing, the whole “don’t murder people” rule is certainly good advice & not being lazy just seems like common sense. I like that religions have ideas about the energy of humans lingering around, perhaps through reincarnation, afterlife or as spirits; although I don’t believe in them, they can bring people enormous comfort. You can call any religious holiday simply a “holiday” but it retains its etymology as a “holy” day. We may never have got weekends off if it wasn’t for religious observance & Christmas Day finally became a public holiday in Scotland in 1958. 

 

Field of Light (Bruce Munro)

Another of my favourite things about religions is their interest in light, either as a symbol or a meditative point of reflection. Religion likes a candle & so do I. With many religions come festivals & holidays celebrating light, when the darkness is upon us in the middle of winter & we all need to feel the presence of hope, enlightenment & better things to come. As ever, there is Science to back it up. The effects of a lack of sunlight can be Seasonal Affective Disorders, insomnia & osteoporosis due to lack of vitamin D. & as ever, there is Art to record it. 

Diwali is one of the most beautiful of the world’s festivals of light. Here a girl lights the Diwali diya, only to inspire one of her father’s most famous works. This is the artist’s third daughter Gita who is said to have posed for three hours at a time for three days as her father, Sawlaram Haldankar (India, 1882-1968) painted her – almost unbelievably – in watercolours for Glow of Hope. Perhaps this painting & its title allow other interpretations, created as it was in 1945-6. Gita herself died as recently as 2018 aged 102.

One of the most glorious painters of light was French Baroque painter Georges de la Tour (1593-1652), who also happens to have painted one of the less ostentatious & more peculiar nativity scenes. But for a secular showcase of his unyielding talent for depicting light, here is The Smoker (1646). Pre-photography it is astonishing to consider how such an accurate & detailed piece could be made. Just as Haldankar’s daughter found herself standing for hours at a time, one wonders how many times this poor model relit a match only to burn his fingers whilst Georges captured his actions for posterity?

Later but in a similar vein is the great English painter of the Industrial Revolution, Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). The full title of this work is A Philosopher giving that Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun (1766), which at least gives a good explanation of the subject matter. Not only are his works incredible feats of technical ability in terms of portraying light but he also chronicled the efforts to bridge the gap between religion & science during the Age of Enlightenment.

Maxfield Parrish’s (1870-1966) The Lantern Bearers (1908) gathers up the warmth & celebratory nature of light in the dark. The lanterns give off a yellow & powerful glow, illuminating the clowns lifting & holding them. In a flat, illustrative style, this piece was used for a Collier’s publication & Parrish became well-known for his paintings for magazines. His use of light in his landscape paintings can make them seem garish & the colours unreal, but there is little doubting his close observation & attention to detail.

In photography, light is an essential ingredient, regardless of how you use it; even its absence leaves an impression. In Light of Democracy #2 (1990) not only is Josef Sedlák (Slovakia, 1958-) making a statement, every aspect of the work relies on light & what we know about it. The result is a startling & memorable icon, provoking thoughts about politics, discrimination, human rights & equality. From his website:  

Traditionally, hands are the symbol of ultimate distinction and personal experience of a human being. The representation succumbs to the democracy of light and literature of light. The effort to reveal the essence of particular human existence matures in images in which the individual is suppressed and the general comes into forefront. 

The simplest way to achieve the impression of light of course is to use actual lights, as in Bruce Munro’s (England/Australia, 1959-) Forest of Light (2012) installation. Made of 20,000 glass bubbles atop plastic tubes, the light comes from kilometres of fibre optic cable. I imagine his works to be very affecting: the idea of the natural combined with the man-made in such a way, not to mention the magnitude of his projects. 

One of my favourite events in the local calendar is the Spectra light festival that has come here to Aberdeen in February. It is a series of light installations scattered around the city centre by various artists. I shall miss it this coming year. When viewing some of the works you have that same immersive sense of the phenomenal within your grasp as with Munro’s (I imagine). 

It can be disorienting in the complete darkness with various installations moving, pulsing or flashing & with the added phenomenon of actual fire being blown in the wind, we get a little taste of the danger of light even in the darkness. 

You’re passing other people by, ignoring them really – for the most part it’s too dark to see who’s next to you. Despite it being a shared encounter, you’re not really sharing. You’re all just there, experiencing it in your own way, bringing your own unique perception to it. & there’s something thrillingly primitive-camp-fire about that.

 

(Note: “Fit like?” is a NE Scottish greeting. Translated directly as “what like?” it makes little sense but generally denotes, “How are you?” or “Hello,” & can be rhetorical or responded to with, “Nae bad, fit like yoursel’?” The inclusion of the “Fit Like?” installation in Aberdeen was a much-appreciated touch).

Wishing you all a restorative ray of light in these dark but hopeful times.