Week 6 - Jayde Farmer - A Theatre for Fish? - Passion

 

I feel like in the past week I have been noticing lighting more than I ever did before taking this class. Today at the aquarium I was surprised at how much the lighting effected the story of each area/tank. 

For example, the first image is a tank that was a representation of the diverse ecosystems on the bases of decommissioned ocean oil platforms. I thought that the choice to have one punching light make it feel like shining the flashlight deep in the ocean. It was highlighting a place we usually wouldn't get to see.

Many of the tanks had this artificial light refraction using gobos to make it look like sunlight. Some of them were natural from sunlight hitting the tanks from outside (image three), but even the imitations, like the second image, created the same feeling of sunlight on the ocean floor. It made the tanks less voyeuristic and more like a chunk of the ocean in a tank. Many of the large tanks had this, making them nice to watch for long periods of time. Tanks with bright white LEDs flooding them mainly highlighted one animal, instead of simulating an environment, the lighting suited each purpose of a tank.

Lighting also was also used throughout the aquarium to urge you to explore and interact. The projections on the floor in the fourth image were a favorite for my nephew. They worked well on this dark carpet, but the projector black was bad on the lighter surfaces that absorbed less light. They worked to make places that normally would be pretty useless empty space become a place to continue interacting with the aquarium.

Overall, I was struck by how much the lighting worked in a similar way to theatre. There was not a single area where the story/theme was not driven by light. It was subtle, in a way were you really only notice if you are looking, but essential. It made me think about how so much of what people enjoy relates to theatre, and thus, why it is my passion. It really felt like a theatre for fish.