Thomas Wilfred's Lumia

Thomas Wilfred is truly a fascinating mind from modern art history. He developed what he called Lumia, a formal artform where light stands on its own as an expressive medium. To render his compositions of light he developed these complex mechanisms that he called The Clavilux, (a color organ if you will). There are only about 30 Clavilux Jr and Lumia compositions still in existence. In his writings, Wilfred made known his objections to recording Lumia works on film. Thus rendering the survival of his works reliant on the existence of his machines. In this quote he talks of working with motion in his art has a time dimension:

"Light is the artist's sole medium of expression. He must mold it by optical means, almost as a sculptor models clay. He must add colour, and finally motion to his creation. Motion, the time dimension, demands that he must be a choreographer in space."

-Thomas Wilfred (1889 -1968)

These ideas really gets me thinking about the physics of art, two things that I think are more closely related than some people might think. Click here to find out more about this fascinating artist: Thomas Wilfred.