Is lighting art or science?

If you’re a curator tasked with lighting design, where do you start? Is lighting about light, or about shadows? If an exhibit ain't lit, is it there? When is a lighting designer's job actually about not lighting things?

Lighting designers Steven Rosen and Ted Mather (Available Light) join host Jonathan Alger (C&G Partners) on Making the Museum, the podcast, to discuss "Revealing the Story with Light".

Along the way: how an exhibition is like a theatrical stage, and a reminder that design is a team sport.

REMASTERED: This episode is one of the first, from early 2023. It has been audio remastered to recover sound lost from mic problems in the original. This new version was uploaded on July 2, 2024. Enjoy!

Talking Points:

1. What shadows reveal

2. The ABC’s of Lighting

        a. Ambient Luminescence

        b. Focal Glow

        c. Play of Brilliance

 3. HELP! I’m a curator tasked with a lighting design—where do I start?

 4. Is lighting art or science?

 5. Photon or wave?

Quotable Quotes:

“If it ain’t lit, it ain’t there.”

“Lighting is about choosing where the shadows are going to fall”

“If the lips aren’t lit, no one hears them.”

“More lights aren’t about being brighter, it’s about more control.”

“You are painting with light.”

“Design is a team sport”

How to Listen:

Subscribe and listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Or start here: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bios:

Steven Rosen, President and Creative Director, Available Light: Merging performance lighting techniques with traditional non-theatrical environments launched Steven’s career and his founding of Available Light over 30 years ago. From Museum exhibits to immersive architecture to trade shows, the fun never stops—it helps that he works with some of the planet’s most talented lighting aficionados. The originality and grand scale of Steven’s award-winning designs are evident in many one-of-a-kind award-winning projects as: The Neural Climber interactive at the Franklin Institute, Ocean Hall for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the International Spy Museum in DC, and Chicago MSI’s U-505. He is passionate about supporting the lighting community.

Steven is a member of Praxis Museum Projects Group, a "network of professionals, each of whom brings an expertise to the process of creating exhibitions and cultural experiences in collaboration with exhibit designers, architects, and museums".

Ted Mather, Managing Principal, New York Studio, Available Light:By design, Ted Mather’s career resides at the intersection of theatrical, entertainment, and architectural lighting. Ted’s dramatic flair and technical expertise merge seamlessly to create striking, dynamic environments and state-of-the-art installations. Ted’s decades of experience—working around the globe—means that his creative vision is balanced with what is truly practical and possible. Ted has transformed the Architainment industry with groundbreaking, award-winning projects such as The International Spy Museum, the National WWII Museum, and the National Museum of African American Music. Ted began his training at the University of Illinois and received his MFA in Stage design from NYU. 

About:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. 

This is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

Steven Rosen

https://www.availablelight.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-rosen-fiald-70a2593/

https://www.praxisexhibits.com

https://www.praxisexhibits.com/posts/89tp8gajbu2bvd4lnn9rqaf1z1eorm-a7w52

https://www.businessoflight.org

https://www.businessoflight.org/who-we-are.html

Ted Mather

https://www.availablelight.com/team/ted-mather

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-mather-8963156/

https://www.inparkmagazine.com/etc-from-theme-parks-to-everywhere/?fbclid=IwAR1uXhTUU_HqS07ML2FR8GzChSaXZj93JpPYM0i7mPn4003hCvbWVeO-Twc

Newsletter:

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Making the Museum is also a very short newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Learn more, read past editions, and subscribe here:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com