360 Degrees: Focus on Lighting Design on Lighting 360 Degrees: Focus 360 Degrees Focus on Lighting Design (Edited by) TOMI HUMALISTO, KIMMO KARJUNEN, RAISA KILPELÄINEN 70 THE PUBLICATION SERIES OF THE THEATRE ACADEMY RAISA KILPELÄINEN RAISA KIMMO KARJUNEN, KARJUNEN, KIMMO TOMI HUMALISTO, Edited by Edited 360 Degrees Focus on Lighting Design TOMI HUMALISTO, KIMMO KARJUNEN, RAISA KILPELÄINEN (ED.) TOMI HUMALISTO, KIMMO KARJUNEN, RAISA KILPELÄINEN (ED.) 360 Degrees Focus on Lighting Design PUBLISHER University of the Arts Helsinki, Theatre Academy 2019 University of the Arts Helsinki, Theatre Academy, Editor & Writers THE PUBLICATION SERIES OF THE THEATRE ACADEMY VOL 70 ISBN (print): 978-952-353-010-2 ISBN (pdf): 978-952-353-011-9 ISSN (print): 0788-3385 ISSN (pdf): 2242-6507 GRAPHIC DESIGN BOND Creative Agency www.bond.fi COVER PHOTO Kimmo Karjunen LAYOUT Atte Tuulenkylä, Edita Prima Ltd PRINTED BY Edita Prima Ltd, Helsinki 2019 ISTÖM ÄR ER P K M K PAPER Y I Scandia 2000 Natural 240 g/m2 & Maxi offset 100 g/m2 M I KT FONTS LJÖMÄR Benton Modern Two & Monosten Painotuotteet 4041 0002 360 Degrees Focus on Lighting Design TOMI HUMALISTO, KIMMO KARJUNEN, RAISA KILPELÄINEN (ED.) 70 THE PUBLICATION SERIES OF THE THEATRE ACADEMY Contents Introduction 9 PART I Multidisciplinary perspectives on lighting design 13 Tarja Ervasti Found spaces, tiny suns 13 Kimmo Karjunen Creating new worlds out of experimentation 37 Raisa Kilpeläinen Thoughts on 30 years of lighting design education at the Theatre Academy 59 Kaisa Korhonen Memories and sensations – the union of light and freedom 97 Ari Tenhula European and American dance and developments in lighting design from the early 1900s to the present day 127 II PART Dimensions of authorship 153 Meri Ekola Fixed in advance or learned through process – what is the nature of contemporary performance lighting design? 153 Minna Heikkilä Welcome to the jungle 165 Raisa Kilpeläinen Lighting design in transition 179 Mia Kivinen Light in their bones 197 Samuli Laine Role bleed 217 Anna Rouhu Flip-fops cannot go on stage! – working as a lighting designer in Singapore 229 Markku Uimonen Looking for a new lighting 241 III PART On perception, transparency, and technology 245 Tomi Humalisto Between me and the world – technological relationships from a post-phenomenological perspective 245 Tülay Schakir On the transparency of light 261 Introduction This volume brings together Finnish perspectives on contemporary lighting design and its development as viewed through a historical lens. A small country may initially seem a limited context for studying lighting design, but because a university of the arts-based education in the feld has been offered in Finland since 1986, there has been a constant need for non-technical discussions around the medium of light and its artistic use. The original Finnish version of this book, Avauskulmia – Kirjoituksia valosuunnittelusta (2017), was published on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of lighting design education at the Theatre Academy, Uni- versity of the Arts Helsinki. This English edition now reminds global audiences of the richness and diversity of light in all its uses. In the open call for texts from Finland, we expressed a desire for a variety of perspectives. We asked contributors to consider the relationship between lighting design and performance in the performing arts today, as well as their personal professional identity as a lighting designer. We were interested in discovering what opportunities and challenges designers faced when it came to expressing light. We asked them to consider the role of light art in relation to lighting design, and how the diversifcation of artistic working methods and roles are refected within the feld of lighting design. Current problematics in terms of ecological awareness and politics and how they relate to lighting design were also of in- terest to the editorial board. Lastly, we sought perspectives on technological developments and education in the feld. How did the contributors respond to the call? A survey of this collec- tion reveals three distinct subject areas or perspectives. In the frst section, Multidisciplinary perspectives on lighting design, lighting designer Tarja Ervasti, lighting and video designer and university lecturer Kimmo Karjunen, lighting designer and scenographer Raisa Kilpelainen, director Kaisa Korhonen, and dancer-choreographer and former professor Ari Tenhula write about the history of lighting design from the perspectives of their respective professions. 360 DEGREES – FOCUS ON LIGHTING DESIGN 10 Ervasti writes about site-specifc and environmental theatre and dance art, drawing on lighting designs she created in the 1980s and 1990s. Karjunen re- fects back on the period when video design was introduced to the performing arts in Finland. Kilpelainen, meanwhile, reviews the history and present-day status of lighting design education at the Theatre Academy. Korhonen provides an autobiographical take on the historical phases of lighting design in Finnish theatre, thanking many of her collaborators over the years. Tenhula draws a long development arc from American dance art to lighting design. Another topic that inspired the contributors, Dimensions of authorship, relates to the work of the lighting designer and different defnitions of authorship. Also included here are writings that investigate lighting design and its defnition(s) in relation to various professional perspectives and visual-spatial forms of ex- pression. Lighting designer Meri Ekola ponders the preliminary design strategies that could be applied to contemporary performance. Lighting designer Minna Heikkila unravels the problem of staging nature in a foreign context, using her design process for a musical as an example. Raisa Kilpelainen writes about expanded authorship and expanded lighting design, opening up these themes with examples. For her contribution, lighting designer and curator Mia Kivinen interviewed artists with a background in lighting design, probing the motivations that led these designers to the feld of light art. Lighting designer and scenogra- pher Samuli Laine discusses the fuid working roles in artistic collaborations, perceiving for himself an artistic identity that transcends the role of designer. Lighting designer Anna Rouhu shares her experiences working in Singapore, in a wholly different cultural atmosphere. Lighting designer and scenographer Markku Uimonen considers the trinity of lighting design, scenography, and di- recting, emphasising the need for all parties to understand each other’s methods and tools. The articles of visual artist Tulay Schakir and lighting designer and pro- fessor of lighting design Tomi Humalisto contribute to the third perspective included here, On perception, transparency and technology, as both are inspired by the post-phenomenological thinking of American philosopher Don Ihde and the concept of transparency. In her text, Schakir emphasises light as a tool of sight and expression as well as the relation between light on perception and meaning and the impact of this relationship. Humalisto focuses on deconstructing Ihde’s primary defnitions of technological relationships, using examples to situate them within the feld of lighting design. INTRODUCTION 11 This collection of writings does not cover all areas proposed in the call for texts, and that was never the intention. What matters is stimulating and sustain- ing conversations on lighting design. There is plenty of room for other writers to complement and continue the topics processed here. Hopefully this publication will stir curiosity, inspire new publications, and play a part in highlighting more discussion on contemporary lighting design. We would like to extend our warm gratitude to Markku Uimonen, during whose tenure as professor this project was originally conceived. A big thank you to the publication committee of the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and to the degree programme in lighting design for supporting the project. We also thank Jenni Mikkonen, the publication specialist at Uniarts Helsinki, Kristian London for the English translation, Atte Tuulenkyla for the layout of the publication, and all writers and contributors who made this publication possible. We are proud to launch this book internationally at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2019 (PQ19) in Prague, on June 7, 2019. Long live light, lighting design, light art, and university education in the feld! Helsinki, April 10, 2019 Tomi Humalisto, Kimmo Karjunen and Raisa Kilpelainen The book's editors celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Theatre Academy's degree programme in lighting design, November 2016, Suvilahti cultural centre, Helsinki. From the left: Tomi Humalisto, Raisa Kilpelainen, Kimmo Karjunen. Photo: Theatre Academy / Petri Tuohimaa. 360 DEGREES – FOCUS ON LIGHTING DESIGN 12 PART I Multidisciplinary perspectives on lighting design Found spaces, tiny suns TARJA ERVASTI In this piece, I examine site-specifc and environmental theatre and dance in light of my own experiences during the 1980s and 1990s, outlining the role lighting and lighting choices played in these performance traditions. I’ll begin by briefy reviewing the background of site-specifc and environmental art. The word site means space, place, location, and/or landscape; a site is a space where something is located or takes place. Site-specifcity and an environmental relationship between spectator and performer often intertwine in performances