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Susanna OlczakYear Four Sculpture
David Sweeney.
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Understanding
The Psychological
Effects of
Light.
Dissertation by Susanna Olczak
Glasgow School of Art
2009/10
11, 366 words
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Abstract
Light is intrinsic to the psychological wellbeing of individuals. An empiricist approach isused to argue that light is inherent to perception and therefore to knowledge and mood. Light
shapes ones sense of self and their existence. Too little light and an overabundance of light
can cause depression, too much electrical lighting in particular. Therefore, lighting needs to
be carefully considered and controlled.
Quality and variety, over quantity of lighting is beneficial. It is important to better utilise
natural lighting and to only use electrical lighting where there is no alternative.
This paper calls for an increasing awareness by artists and designers of the psychological
effects of light. Evidence suggests that artists and designers are becoming more aware of the
effects of light and are beginning to find ways to allow more versatility over how the
environment is lit. They are designing with the intent of allowing individuals increased
control over natural and artificial lighting. This could be beneficial to the psychological
health of individuals.
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Into the world of perpetual solitude,World not world, but that which is not world,Internal darkness, deprivation...
The surface glittered out of heart of light,And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
T. S Eliot.(1944) Four Quartets. 1
1
Eliot, T. S. (1944) Four Quartets. Faber and Faber.
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Introduction
TS Eliots evocation of the collective memory of mankind begins with light and its loss as a
metaphor for the loss of human consciousness and feeling. Four Quartets shimmers with
light and light metaphor to reconnect with emotion and the perception of our world. Where is
our not world 2 our internal darkness 3 ? The passing cloud and the empty pool of
memory and perception are all that remain of Eliots primal world.
Eliot speaks of light as the beginning of life, of experience and memory. He also describes
the effects light has in allowing man to experience oneself and the other, to reconnect with
their existence. Furthermore, the formal qualities of Four Quartets allow Eliot to define
precisely each location and to secure emotion and perception for Eliot light is crucial in
defining space, time and feeling.
Light is a necessity for humans to live. Light allows man to see the world around him, from
minute details to the vast expanses of the universe. The sun the stars and the moon act as a
guide, enabling an understanding of ones place in the universe. Light alters our mood and is
intrinsic to our sense of wellbeing.
This paper will discuss this idea; it questions the effect that the lack of natural lighting and
too much electrical lighting can have on how an individual understands oneself. The paper
will focus on the works of James Turrell, and Antony Gormley, the architecture of Norman
2 Eliot, T. S. (1944) Four Quartets. Faber and Faber.
3
Eliot, T. S. (1944) Four Quartets. Faber and Faber.
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Foster, and essays from the Royal College of Psychiatry amongst others to construct its
argument.
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Chapter 1: The Effect of Light on Knowledge and Mood
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is tokindle a light in t he darkness of mere being.
Karl Jung, (1963.) Memories, Dreams, Reflections, 4
Contrary to common perception of light as the universal constant, repeated robotically
through Ein steins equation, it is actually the variability and variety of light that
gives it its properties and irregularities.
Light is a psychological necessity. However, the importance of light goes beyond just
fulfilling a basic psychological need. Light also shapes our experience of the world; it is
fundamental to how people feel and see. People see an object by light reflecting from it. The
information is interpreted by the visual cortex of the brain. This perception provides
individuals with information and knowledge. This knowledge helps to form identity:
reflections, for example, allow people to see who they are. Jacques Lacan identified the
mirror phase in human development, when a baby first recognises itself in the surface of a
mirror i. Moreover, as Jung also suggests, light is intrinsic to the existence of individuals.
4 Jaffe, A (ed) (1989). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. (Translated from German by, Richard and Clara Winston)Vintage books
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closely the varying properties of light: for example, how light changes in substances like
water.
Figure 1: Monet, C. (1906). Water Lilies.
Light defines form, depth and density. Emphasis is placed on the reflections and colour of the
water and Monet uses darker tones to suggest the changing depths in the water and to show
how the water is moving. This painting focuses on how light allows us to see and to feel an
atmosphere.
Art is not only about capturing the real world. Many artists seek to produce art that creates an
emotional mood in the viewer. The impressionists were beginning to understand that light is
constantly shifting how individuals experience the world and therefore how they think about
things .Light is thus inherent to an individuals existence.
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Throughout history, philosophers, artists, and other individuals have attempted to understand
what existence means. This can be done by analysing ones perceptions. Perceptions make up
a significant part of individual identity. The world can be engaged with and understood by
perceiving it. Children perceive before learning how to communicate. John Berger claims
that, seeing comes before words. 7 If the argument is dismissed that humans are born with
innate ideas, ii then it can be argued that people generate all their ideas about the world
through perception.
Sight is one of the most dominant senses: Seeing is conditioned by light, and the presence of
things to be seen is conditioned by their being in light. 8 Perception, therefore, is a primary
source of knowledge. If light is fundamental to perception, it is therefore fundamental to
knowledge: Light may literally refer to sensory experience, but at the same time it offers one
of our most far reaching metaphors, Knowledge is light . 9 Knowledge can only be formed by
understanding what something is, and also what something is not.
Eliot suggests, what you do not know is the only thing you know. 10 People can form a
concept of one thing by seeing how it is different from something else. Light epitomises this
concept of difference. The contrast light creates, allows an individual to question their
knowledge. It is by seeing the difference between one shade of light or colour and another
that one can work out what something is.
7 Berger, J. (2008). Ways of Seeing . Penguin classics. Front cover.
8 Barzel, A. De Gara, C . (2006) Targetti, Paolo Light Art . Skira Berenice. pg 11
9 Kapstein, Matthew. (2004 ) The Presence of Light . University of Chicago press. Preface
10 Eliot, T. S. (1944) Four Quartets. Faber and Faber. pg 18
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Shadows represent the potential in something that is ambiguous, partly because, dissolved
things are at the same time only partly formed, they can be subjectively read, re read,
constructed, and reconstructed. 11 Shadows represent the point of flux between knowing and
not knowing.
Artists have realised the importance of difference in forming knowledge. They question what
perception is for the rest of humanity and understand the role light can play in making the
viewer question their perception and knowledge. For example, artists have tried to capture in
their works the way in which different shades of light can give us knowledge.
Magritte s The Empire of Lights suggests that humans need contrast in order to perceive. At
first the scene seems normal. However, on closer inspection, the painting shows an unusual
scene: it depicts the simultaneous appearance of day and night. One half of the painting is
immersed in daylight. An expanse of blue sky is depicted, and although no sun is shown, the
intensity of the colour informs the viewer it is daytime. The highlights on the clouds suggest
that the light is strong.
11 Plummer, H. (2009). Poetics of Light. Tokyo Au. pg 77
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Figure 2: Magritte, R. (1953-54.) The Empire of Lights
The lower half of the painting contrasts this. Artificial lighting appliances are shown. A
Victorian lamp illuminates the front of the house, and lights shine from two of the windows.
As a result, the building glows from the inside. The water in the foreground creates
reflections which soften, and emphasise the atmosphere. The silhouetted trees
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Artists began to manipulate light to deceive the viewer. Rather than telling the viewer exactly
what to perceive, artists began to make the viewer question what is being looked at. In this
example, Magritte makes the viewer question illusions and how perception informs people
about their identity. This work shows an illusion in the mirror. The man cannot see himself:
he is only able to see what someone looking behind him can see.
Figure 3: Magritte, R. (1937) Interdit
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Light also provides contrast through colour. The painter Rothko uses colour to represent
difference in light. His work is about the contrast of one colour to another.
Figure 4: Rothko, M. (1962). Blue and Grey
In 1970, installation art became popular. Artists began to make works that related to the site
in which the work was to be shown. These artists made works into which the viewer could
enter. This allowed the viewer a more holistic experience of the artwork. Installation art
offered the opportunity for the viewer to begin to further understand the relationship one has
not only to objects but to the world around.
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Artists began to combine the idea of using optical illusions with installation art. In doing this
these artists could make the viewer question their experiences of a space. The artist Olafur
Eliasson uses a mirror to fill a room, creating an illusion that the viewer can enter into,
distorting the viewers experience.
Figure 5: Eliasson, O. (2003) . Frost Activit
Artists were beginning to realise that light can create an experience, impacting on mood and
evoking intense feeling on the viewer. They began to not only using light as a medium withwhich to investigate the world, but to manipulate light in order to control how the viewer
feels.
For centuries Architects have understood that light affects people psychologically and have
controlled light for aesthetic and functional reasons. The Mayan pyramids were designed to
control the light.
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On the Spring and Autumn equinox, at the rising and setting of the sun, the corner ofthe structure casts a shadow in the shape of a plumed serpent - Kukulcan, orQuetzalcoatl - along the west side of the north staircase. On these two annual occasions,the shadows from the corner tiers slither down the northern side of the pyramid with thesun's movement to the serpent's head at the base. 14
Architects exploit the power light has to create atmosphere and mood in order to move the
viewer towards a political or religious idea. A long tradition of this is seen in religious
buildings. Light in these buildings is used to draw the eye of those entering up to the centre of
the building. This has religious symbolism. The viewer imagines they are being brought
closer to the God or gods they worship. Light is used to illuminate the detail of the
architecture. The beholder looks up in awe and believes the power their religion has.
Figure 6: Agrippa, M. (126ad) Pantheon . Rome
14
Pyramids of Mesoamerica. (2010) Available at (02/02/2010)
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Figure 7: Militus, I. (537 ad) Hagia Sophia . Istanbul
Light comes from natural and artificial sources. Natural light can be controlled to some extent,
but artificial lighting allows for greater control. Albert Speer, who was the architect for the
Nazis, was strongly influenced by Rembrandts u se of striking light. He used artificial
lighting to influence people in Hitlers propaganda .15
15 Hudson, A. Nazi use of Rembrandt. Available at (05/10/2009)
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Figure 8: Rembrandt, V R. (1635 ). The Feast of Belhazzar
The mass of people in this scene are confronted with the powerful light display which
engages their entire vision. The power of the light is used to convey the power of the Nazis.
Figure 9: Speer, A. (1923-1938.) The Cathedral of Light
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By exploiting the power of light, these architects could change, even just for a moment, how
individuals feel about the world around them. They are filled with belief in the power of god,
or of a political party. Their ideas about the world are altered.
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The psychological experience of seeing light away from the objects it illuminates.
When the viewer is so accustomed to moving around a space and looking at objects
illuminated by light, what happens when the object is taken away? Many philosophers have
tried to understand how individuals gain knowledge through experience. One of the most
influential theorists is Maurice Marceau Ponty, who explored ideas of phenomenology, the
study of things as they are perceived and the interpretation of the world by how people sense
it.
Ponty explains that perception is how people engage with the objects of the world. He claims,
I regard my body, which is my point of view on the world as one of the objects of that
world. 16 This suggests that the viewer has a direct relationship with the objects in a space,
our sense of the objects around us is based on who we are and forms who we are. This
connects perception closely with identity.
Likewise, Sartre states, the other s presence to me is object-ness. 17 He is suggesting that
the other is similar to an object. Therefore, by rethinking how objects are perceived,
individuals can question the effect perception has on who they are and the other. Without the
object the experience of light can be questioned more closely.
Two works that makes us consider how we perceive more closely are Wedge Work Series by
Turrell and Sonne Statt Regen by Ollafur Eliasson. These works not only abstract the object,
16 Ponty, M. (2002). Phenomology of Perception. Routeledge pg 81
17 Sartre, JP. (1958) (Translated from French by H. E Barnes.) Being and Nothingness . Menthuen and Co. Ltd.Pg 276
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light is manipulated further to allow the viewer to see light separately from the object it
illuminates. This completely changes how the viewer would normally perceive.
It could be argued that by taking away the object these artists are moving the art world into a
post post-modern era. They are doing this by making a radical change in the experience of
viewing the art object. For never before has an artwork encouraged the viewer to perceive
without an object being present.
By allowing the viewer to see light away from the light source and objects, the work becomes
even more about the psychological impact of light. Kant said that abstraction of form
provides knowledge. 18 This is because; it allows individuals to see the difference between the
abstracted images, and the real object it is representing. Plato states the importance of
abstraction in creating new ideas: abstraction is a distinctive mental process in which new
ideas or conceptions are formed, by considering several objects or ideas, and omitting the
features that distinguish them. 19 This is suggesting that when we see something abstracted,
we compare the abstracted form to realistic forms that we have seen. Throug h this
comparison we can form knowledge.
By taking away the objects that light affects, the viewer can reconsider how they experience
light. These artists are seeing how the viewer reacts in an unusual space. These works
become psychological experiments.
18 Want, C, Klimowski, A. (1996.) Kant for Beginners. Icon Books LTD.
19
Stanford encyclopaedia of Philosophy. (2001) Available at Abstract Objects . Thu Jul 19, 2001 (06/02/2010)
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Light is used not only as the medium for this artwork but as its essence, Turrell chose simply
to use light itself. 20 In these works, light withdraws from the things which it illuminates to
appear by itself differently as something tactile. 21 Light which is so immaterial becomes so
real it is almost tangible. Turrell creates, rooms where the experience of seeing is given to
itself as its own revelation. 22 This work becomes an experience of perceiving.
The intent of Turrell is always the gift of experience dispensed in light. 23 Installation art,
artwork that physically incorporates the viewer into the work, combined with the medium of
light, creates a powerful experience. As Plummer writes, A light animat ed space is never
susceptible to neutral measurement or observation, for not only does it with hold some of its
contents, but it incorporates the viewer directly into the work. 24 Light can never be observed
without becoming immersed in it.
Normally when an individual experiences light one is conscious of the light source. It is used
to orientate oneself. Turrell not only allows us the opportunity to see light away from the
objects it normally illuminates, the light source is also invisible. Ollafur Eliasson also
experiments with installations where the viewer can see the light source and where the viewer
cannot. Diverting away from art for a moment, lighting designer Kaoru Mende says,
imagine this scene, lighting fixtures are invisible, but a pleasant light dances in spacelike a southern breeze at dusk. If we are ever able to make that scene real, then thedesign of moods may prove more than just a daydream. 25
20 Herbert, L. et al. (1988). Turrell- Spirit and Light , and the Immensity Within. Houston Contemporary artsmuseum. Pg 17
21 Noever, P. (1999) (ed) James Turrell the Other Horizon. MAK pg 50
22 Noever, P (ed). (1999) James Turrell the Other Horizon . MAK pg 48
23 Noever, P (ed). (1999) James Turrell the Other Horizon. MAK pg 46
24 Plummer, H. (2009). Poetics of Light. Tokyo Au. pg 75
25 Mende, K , lighting planners associates Inc. (2000) Designing with Light and Shadow. Australia images publishing group. pg 6
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This quote shows that Mende recognised the power that not seeing the source has. He is
suggesting that this has the potential to shift how we feel. Eliasson manipulates light and
colour, to encourage the viewer to question how light affects mood. He creates spaces in
which the viewer is not only able to experience light, but the intense colour created.
Figure 11: Eliasson, O. (2003). Sonne Statt Regen
Sonne Statt Regen is impacting. This work subjects the viewer to changing intensities and
colours of light within a space, which allows the opportunity to feel the change in mood
whilst experiencing the piece. Not seeing the light source offers an unusual experience. An
experience, which people travel far and wide to witness, for example, a solar eclipse and the
northern lights. In these examples the viewer is confronted with an experience that confronts
and engulfs those viewing.
The powerful manipulation of light creates a holistic experience for the viewer, which allows
the individual to question their experience of the world. Light and space artists use light to
create spaces that allow for new, sometimes disturbing, but always self reflexive modes of
perception. 26 One can reflect on oneself, ones knowledge and mood.
26 Broeker, H et al. (2004) Olafur Eliasson Your Lighthouse. Hatje Cantz publishers pg 37
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The Universal Experience of Light.
Figure 12: Gormley, A. (2007- 2009). Blind Light
Blind Light by Antony Gormley creates a setting which invites the viewer to explore how
they perceive and how this shapes their identity. The title suggests this oxymoronic sentiment
of being visually impaired by something that normally facilitates seeing. Like in Turrels
Wedge Work series, the viewer becomes disorientated by the blinding white light. The mist
holds the light, making it seem to float around the viewer. The mist takes away our sense of
depth and distance.
The work allows two very different experiences of perception, depending on whether the
viewer is inside or outside the work. Inside the work, the viewer becomes aware of what it is
to see by being disorientated. Those inside the work fumble around in the light trying to
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become better orientated, encountering other people in the space doing a similar thing.
Gormley experiments further than Turrell by allowing the viewer to view from outside the
work. From outside, the glass outer structure enables the viewer to watch the event taking
place. No longer directly interacting with the work, the viewer can stand back, and question
what it is to perceive by watching others do so.
The work intrinsically, allows other viewers the experience of seeing real bodies interacting
with a conceptual space that is also physical, and seeing how they deal with it. 27 When
exhibited in the Hayward, in 2008 Gormleys Blind Light was popular, 208,000 people
experienced the installation, making it the most visited exhibition of any living artist in the
Haywards 39 -year history. 28 Although there were other works on show, the light box was a
central attraction. This could be because of the interactive experience and the subject matter.
Light because of its fundamental nature, becomes universal, lights ubiquitous, but strikingly
precise similarities may be found in altogether different historical and cultural settings. 29
Light affects everyone, artwork dealing with something as fundamental as light is accessible
to everyone; it offers everyone the chance to experience it. By making artwork about the
psychological experience of light, these artworks can be understood on many levels, and can
therefore be enjoyed more readily by everyone.
Therefore art like Blind Light has the power to connect people. Olafur Eliasson whose work
focuses almost entirely on light, states that his goal is to integrate art into society, so that it
27 Vidler, A. Stewart, S. (2007). Antony Gormley- Blind Light. Hayward Publishing. pg 52
28
Antony Gormleys Blind Light. (2010) Available at < http://www.artcat.com/exhibits/5676 > (24/02/2010)29 Kapstein, M. (2004) The Presence of Light . University of Chicago press. Preface
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will once more have the function of helping sensory orientation. 30 This statement appears
to recognise that art has been disconnected from direct sensory experience. In a similar way,
Walter Benjamin argued the aura of an artwork is being lost t hrough the ease of
reproduction. T hat, even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one
element; its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to
be. 31 Work using light however is about experience and is therefore irreproducible; therefore
perhaps the aura of art can be recreated through work about the experience of light.
The counter argument of course is that by making artwork that is irreproducible, it becomes
more elitist and less easily accessible worldwide. Nonetheless, artworks such as the works of
Turrell and Gormley, are still reproduced and enjoyed as representational forms. But when
the work is visited, the viewer is offered a universal and holistic experience that changes the
psychological state of the viewer.
30 Broeker, H. Et al. (2004) Olafur Eliasson Your Lighthouse. Hatje Cantz publishers pg 7
31
Benjamin, W. Underwood, J, A. (1935) The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Penguin. pg 2
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Exploiting the universal power of light to create mood
Only very recently have artists like Gormley and Eliasson started to really expose the way
light alters our psychological state. However film, which is one of the most accessible and
universal artistic mediums, has been aware of this for some time. It relies on light for its
production and is often used as a medium to address the psychological effects of light and
darkness.
It is often proposed that human beings intrinsically have an inherent fear of the dark. 32 Fear
of the dark can be synonymous with fear of death. Therefore, light makes people realise what
it is to be alive and has an effect on uplifting mood. Light is symbolic of new life and
salvation. Light coming out of darkness symbolises light at the end of the tunnel which gives
the sense of hope, and escapism.
David Slade and David Twohy, have used these concepts in their films. Just as when the
viewer enters the strange light of Turrells work they might feel uneasy, or being immersed in
Blind Light can be unnerving, being in pitch black is equally terrifying. Horror films exploit
the psychological effect of darkness. These films play on peoples innate fear of the dark, in
order to create drama. 30 Days of Night 33 directed by David Slade in 2008 is set in Alaska
where the sun sets for 30 days during winter. This continuous darkness allows vampires to
come out and prey on those who live there. The film Pitch Black 34 directed by David Twohy
32 Fricter, Lisa. (2008) Nyctophobia, Fear of The Dark. Available at (22/02/2010)
33 30 Days of Night . (2008). Directed by David Slade. [DVD.] USA: Sony Pictures.
34 Pitch Black. (2009) Directed by David Twohy. [DVD]. USA: Universal Pictures.
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in 2009 also sets a scene where people are plunged into perpetual darkness. It uses the
symbolism of light as a saviour as a key part of the plot.
The film opens with a spaceship crashing onto an unknown planet which orbits three Suns.
On board is a prisoner. Immediately the characters start to show sensitivity to the perpetual
sunlight. The crash victims soon realise that no one else is on the planet. Signs of life are
everywhere, but there are no inhabitants. It soon becomes clear that the inhabitants were
forced to leave. The crash victims realise that the planet is inhabited by nocturnal creatures,
which prey on humans during darkness. The only way to kill these creatures is by using light.
The planet is plunged into darkness by an eclipse from another planet and the creatures come
out to prey in the darkness. The victims soon realise that the prisoner could help everyone to
survive. He has had eye surgery, which resulted in extreme sensitivity to light, however, he
can now see in the dark. Armed with light sources, and the prisoner as a guide, the victims
head out to fight the creatures. Not only are these films addressing the psychological effects
of light, they are beginning to suggest the effects of extremes of perpetual darkness and light.
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Chapter 2: The Effect of Light on the Psychological of individuals.
Be near me when my light is low,When the blood creeps, and the nerves prickAnd tingle; and the heart is sick,And all the wheels of Being slow.
A, L, Tennyson, 35 (1850) From In Memoriam
As Tennyson is suggesting light fuels a person, not only physically but it feeds their emotions.
When my light is low, 36 could perhaps be similar to Eliots, eternal darkness, 37 The
diminishing light suggests a vulnerability and a slowing down of the body and mind. Light is
something that speaks to the heart of someone, it creeps 38 and tingles 39 through the body
and into the heart and mind.
Light is a physiological necessity. However is affects how people feel and think. The authorof Light, Colour and Environment , Faber Birren, argued that given food and water it might be
possible physiologically for people to live without light; however it is undisputed that it
would not be possible psychologically for humans to survive in complete darkness. 40
35 Tennyson, A, L. (1859). In Memoriam. Edward Moxon
36 Tennyson, A, L. (1859). In Memoriam. Edward Moxon
37 Eliot, T. S. (1944) Four Quartets. Faber and Faber.
38 Tennyson, A, L. (1859). In Memoriam. Edward Moxon
39 Tennyson, A, L. (1859). In Memoriam. Edward Moxon
40 Birren, F. (1988) Light, Colour and Environment. Shiffer publishing.
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Normal life became affected by this enforced regulation of lighting and by having no
artificial lighting outside at night. As well as the blackouts, no street lights were used.
Accidents and crime began to increase and people struggled to navigate the streets in the
darkness. Firsthand account of the blackouts, describe the problems people faced.
Not only did we have the problem of just finding our way in the dark but there weretimes when the weather added to our problems. Fog was a regular addition especiallywhen it was aided by the smoke screen put up on the outskirts of the city to confuse the
bombers.
I can well recall walking home using my bicycle to feel the kerb, hoping that I wouldnot take a wrong turning. If that happened one was completely disoriented and onecould only hope to meet someone who could put you back on track. In one instance,near where I lived, a man mistook a left turn and, instead of turning down the road hewanted, he turned down a track leading to the canal. He fell in and although his criescould be heard, he drowned before anyone could locate him. 43
The account talks about the disorientation as a result of lack of light. This describes a scene
somewhat like in the artwork of Gormley. The combination of fog and poor lighting has
disorienting affects. This suggests that lack of light not only hinders how people live, but
makes people psychologically unstable.
Because lack of light is something that has such strong psychological effects, it has been used
to inflict torture. The article, The CIAS Favourite Form of Torture, argues that s ensory
deprivation torture is said to be one of the most effective and traumatic. 44 For those prisoners,
being subjected to unchanging conditions, it takes just twelve hours for most subjects to
begin to hallucinate. Prisoners begin to suffer severe mood swings; and they crave mental
stimulation and interaction. As a result the prisoner becomes more easily controlled by an
43 WW2 Peoples War. (2003) The End of the Blackout in London Available at(21/02/2010)
44
Benjamin, M . (2009) The CIAS Favourite Form of Torture. Available at < www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/07/sensory_deprivation. 2009. > (09/08/2009)
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interrogator. These extreme cases suggest how powerful a psychological impact constant
darkness can have on individuals.
However, to be in a situation where there is absolutely no light available is extremely rare. It
is a more common occurrence for individuals to be subjected to very little natural light. Lack
of natural light is known to induce irritability, lethargy, and anti-social tendencies. It often
increases insomnia and changes eating patterns. Individuals suffer from; somnolence and
despondency; lacking in a sense of worth and hope. Lack of natural light is known to affect
patients suffering from depression or psychiatric disorders, patients with eating disorders
frequently experience a winter exacerbation of their symptoms. 45 This suggests that
individuals who are already mentally unstable become more sensitive to lack of light.
Research undertaken demonstrates the acknowledgement in psychological health conditions
resulting from the lack of natural light, For example; sick building syndrome , 46 and
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The psychological effect of lack of natural light has been
investigated for many years. The first classification of SAD was made by Norman Rosenthal
in 1984. However as the book, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Practice and Research, 47
suggests, research into SAD has been undertaken since 1825. Likewise in 400BC,
45 Eagles. J. (2004.) Light Therapy , and the Management of Winter Depression. The Royal College ofPsychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233. > (27/12/2009.)
46 Sick Building Syndrome. (2010) Available at(22/02/2010)
47
Magnuson, A. Partanen, T (eds) (2001) Seasonal Affective Disorder: Practice and Research. OxfordUniversity Press.
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Hippocrates postulated that it was the cha nges of seasons which produce disease. 48
Therefore SAD is not a modern disorder.
(SAD) is a medical condition where people suffer adverse mood alterations as a result of lack
of light. Beck writes that,
SAD, is officially recognized as a form of major depression that remits in spring, andsummer. The seasonal and geographic patterns provide strong clues that it is related tothe diminishing daylight in the fall and winter. One theory suggests that the reducedlight disrupts peoples' circadian rhythms, the 24-hour biological clock that governswaking, sleeping, and many other body functions. Another theory holds that thedarkness wreaks havoc with neurotransmitters brain chemicals that effect mood. 49
Results suggest that in the treatment of SAD and other psychological disorders, light therapy
works well. The Royal College of Psychiatry states that, light therapy has been shown to be
effective in up to 85 percent of diagnosed cases. 50 However, it has to be a very particular
intensity of lighting. 51 If the patients are exposed for too long, or for too little time, side
effects may occur, or the treatment does not work.
Success of treatment that helps alleviate the psychological symptoms as well as the
physiological problems is said to be effective. Beck writes,
Dr. Rohan and her colleagues developed a cognitive behavioural therapy 52 (CBT) program, in which patients identified and then challenged, negative thoughts and
48 Eagles, J (2004.) . Light Therapy and the Management of Winter Depression. The Royal College ofPsychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233. > (27/12/2009.)
49Beck , M. (2009). Bright Ideas for Treating Winter Blues. Available at (01/02/2010).50 Information on Seasonal Affective Disorder. (2009.) Available at < www.Sada.org.uk. > (15/01/2010)
51 Information on Seasonal Affective Disorder. (2009.) Available at < www.Sada.org.uk. > (15/01/2010)
52 Beck, M. (2009) Bright Ideas for Treating Winter Blues. Available at
(01/02/2010.)
http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://www.sada.org.uk/http://www.sada.org.uk/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://www.sada.org.uk/http://www.sada.org.uk/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233 -
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behaviours (like declining social invitations and spending time in bed) that werecontributing to their depression. 53
Results show,
that in a study of 69 patients published in the Journal of Behaviour Therapy this year,Dr. Rohan and colleagues treated some SAD patients with CBT, some with lighttherapy and some with a combination , and followed them through two winters. About37% of the patients treated with light therapy had a recurrence of depression. Thatcompared with 7% of patients treated only with CBT and 6% of patients who receiveda combination of treatments. 54
Treatment should therefore treat the physiological and psychological symptoms.
As this article suggests, SAD can cause individuals to become anti social. When individuals
are subjected to too little natural light, hibernation becomes the natural reaction: Lack of
light would lead to a natural form of human hibernation. 55 Individuals begin to exclude
themselves from the world.
Studies undertaken by The Royal College of Psychiatrists, state that SAD is more apparent in
people who have a smaller or less stable social circle. The article, Negative Life Events and
Poor social Support Predict Seasonal Patterns of Mood Disorder, argues that there is an,
increased risk of seasonality by negative life events and having low levels of social
support. 56 It is known that the two main side-effects of SAD are that patients stop exercising,
and have a larger appetite: both of which factors contribute to weight gain, which in turn can
53 Beck, M. (2009) Bright Ideas for Treating Winter Blues. Available at (01/02/2010.)
54 Beck, M. (2009) Bright Ideas for Treating Winter Blues. Available at (01/02/2010.)
55 Birren, F. (1988) Light Colour and Environment. Shiffer publishing. pg 12
56 Negative life Events, and Poor Social Support Predict Seasonal Patterns of Mood Disorder. (2003) Royal
College of Psychiatrists. Available at (10/11/2009)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pressparliament/pressreleasearchive/pr412.aspx.%202003.%20%20pg%201http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pressparliament/pressreleasearchive/pr412.aspx.%202003.%20%20pg%201http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popularhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567881192085174.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular -
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contribute to deteriorating interpersonal relationships and social withdrawal. 57 This suggests
that Lack of light makes people less sociable, yet being less sociable can make people more
susceptible to SAD.
The Royal College of Psychiatry conclude that their studies provide further evidence of the
importance of evaluating the role of psycho-social factors in relation to seasonality, and
SAD. 58 Lighting and its impact not only on the self, but also interaction with others, could
be argued as intrinsically linked, as depression caused by too little lighting can cause people
to become reclusive and antisocial. Society is affected because people become less sociable
and motivated as a result of sad.
SAD could be having an impact on a large majority of society within the United Kingdom
and other countries. J. M Eagles of The Royal College of Psychiatry argues that, it would
probably be justifiable to classify more than half of the UK population as experiencing mild
symptoms of winter depression. 59 However the United Kingdom is not the worst country to
be affected. SAD is linked to geographic places where there is a distinct lack of light in the
winter. The report, Winter Seasonal Affective Disorder: A global, Bio cultural
Perspective, 60 suggests the correlation between lack of sun light and Depression. Therefore it
is most prevalent in the more northern countries.
57 Eagles. J. (2004) Light Therapy and The Management of Winter Depression. The Royal College ofPsychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233. > (27/12/2009.)
58 Negative life Events and Poor Social Support Predict Seasonal Patterns of Mood Disorder. (2003) RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at 2003. Pg 1. (10/11/2009)
59 Eagles. John. (2004.) Light Therapy and the Management of Winter Depression. The Royal College ofPsychiatrists. Availaalbe at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233. > (27/12/2009.)
60
Whitehead, B. Winter Seasonal Affective Disorder: A Global, Biocultural Perspective. Available at (21/02/2010)
http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pressparliament/pressreleasearchive/pr412.aspxhttp://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant570/Papers/Whitehead.pdf%3e(21/02/2010)http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant570/Papers/Whitehead.pdf%3e(21/02/2010)http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pressparliament/pressreleasearchive/pr412.aspxhttp://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233 -
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Ways in which too much light affects individual psychologically.
The novel L E tranger, (The Outsider) 63 by Albert Camus, presents an existentialist character,
Meursault, whose whole sense of self is affected by lighting. He often describes how the
bright light of Algiers affects him, for example he says, the glare from the sky was
unbearable. 64 His experiences and moods are evoked through his sensory perceptions, in
particular his relationship to light. The suggestion is made that Meursault is sensitive to too
much lighting. This chapter will begin to discuss the effect that too much lighting can have
on individuals.
For those subjected to too much light, it becomes difficult to rest and to work out what time it
is. The individuals body-clock becomes unset and individuals become more prone to
insomnia.
This is a subject that artists have addressed. Insomnia 65 , directed by Christopher Nolan in
2003, is a detective story set in Alaska. The main character, detective, Dormer, (Latin word
Dormire, Meaning to sleep.) becomes increasingly unstable throughout the film as a result of
insomnia, caused by the continuous daylight of the Alaskan summer. As a result of sleep
deprivation, he struggles to concentrate, becomes increasingly less alert and loses confidence
in his judgment.
Of course this is an unusual circumstance: few countries in the world have periods of
continuous daylight. However, for these countries which also have seasons of perpetual
63 Camus, A. (1983) (Translated from French by J Laredo. 1942) The Outsder. Pengun Group. Pg 21
64 Camus, Albert. The Outsder. Pengun Group. 1983. Pg 21
65 Insomnia. (2003) Directed by Christopher, Nolan. [DVD.] USA: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
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darkness such as Finland, Russia and, Alaska rates of depression, suicide and alcholism are
high.
A report for the Denver post on the suicide rates in America states that: Alaska reported the
highest suicide rate. 66 Likewise, a report on Alcohol Cultures in Finland and Alaska 67
suggests that both cultures have a high tendency towards alcohol abuse, In 2005 alcohol
killed more adult Finns than heart disease or any form of cancer. 68 Likewise Alcohol
consumption in 2005 set a record for Finland. 69 Alcohol is becoming one of the highest
causes of death. Coffee consumption is also high. 70 This could be because individuals wish to
stimulate their brain due to the lack of sunlight. This suggests the detrimental effects of
extremes of light.
Although not all countries suffer from such extremes as in Finland and Alaska, Artificial
lighting can result in people being subjected to constant lighting. An excess of light can be
beneficial, if someone is exposed to it at the right time of the day. However, too much
66 Draper, E. (2007) States Suicide Rate, Eighth Highest. Available a t < http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7584821>(19/02/2010)
67 Erlanda, M. (2007) Alcohol cultures in Finland and Alaska: Explosive Drinking Patterns and their
Consequences.(Report) Available at < http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-185821604/alcohol-cultures-finland-and.html>(20/02/2010)
68 Erlanda, M. (2007) Alcohol cultures in Finland and Alaska: Explosive Drinking Patterns and theirConsequences.(Report) Available at < http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-185821604/alcohol-cultures-finland-and.html>(20/02/2010)
69 Alcohol Deaths in Finland.(2010) Alcohol and Drugs, History Society. Available at < http://historyofalcoholanddrugs.typepad.com/alcohol_and_drugs_history/finland/>(20/02/2010)
70 Finns Drink the Most Coffee. Alcohol and Drugs, History Society. (2010) Available at < http://historyofalcoholanddrugs.typepad.com/alcohol_and_drugs_history/finland/>(20/02/2010)
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artificial lighting is not healthy. In particular too much artificial lighting at night, people are
exposed to an excess at lighting when they should normally be exposed to darkness.
In these paintings Van Gogh depicts an intensely lit scene, starlight and artificial light blaze
before the eyes of the viewer, whose entire vision is exposed to light. The lights cast a warm
glow on the scene beneath and the water reflects it, increasing the intensity. In contrast to the
brightness of the lighting, the buildings become lost and blur into the background.
Figure 13: Van Gogh, V. (1888). Starry Night Over the Rhone.
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Figure 14: Van Gogh, V.(1889). Starry Starry Night
The light in Starry Starry Night, swirls violently and expressively through the sky revealing
in luminosity the relationship between light, atmosphere and mood. This suggests unease, but
also enjoyment of the intensities of light. Van Gogh was known to suffer from epilepsy. 71
This painting shows sensitivity to lighting when there is an overabundance. The painting
blurs the distinction between day and night, and suggests an intensity of lighting even at night.
The ability to create twenty-four hour lighting has had an immense impact on the developed
world. Although artificial lighting existed before the invention of the light bulb, the light bulb
was able to be so easily and cheaply produced and was more efficient and longer-lasting. This
71 Vincent Van Gogh (2010) Available at < http://www.charge.org.uk/htmlsite/van%20_gogh.shtml>(23/02/2010)
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meant that lighting could have a much wider use. It began to be controlled for aesthetic
purposes, such as to light up buildings at night, not only where it was a functional necessity.
The increase of electrical lighting not only impacted on the exterior world, it also had an
effect on individuals and society. The use of artificial lighting has helped society in many
ways: people are able to work, shop, and socialise after night fall. However the ability to light
urban spaces and buildings all the time has had an effect on the psychological stability of
individuals.
The invention of artificial lighting, on the one hand helped to give people more control over
lighting. On the other hand it has taken away peoples connection with the natural cycle of the
sun, something which people adjusted their lives to and was important for their wellbeing.
Before artificial lighting, individuals were constrained to only carrying out activities during
daylight hours and people accepted that darkness was something they could not change.
Electrical lighting changed how long people could work. With the increase of electrical
lighting, the working hours increased. This resulted in individuals having less free time.
Although being able to work through the night can be beneficial, it can also cause stress on
the individual workers. Alan Bellows in the article, The Shortness of Dark 72 suggests that
artificial light varies the length of the day. This means that individuals do not have a set sleep
patterns and their body clock is not regulated. He argues that this is not healthy as it weakens
the immune system and causes other illnesses and stress.
72
Bellows, A. ( 2006) Shortness of Dark. Available at < http://www.damninteresting.com/shortness-of-dark >13 th March 2006. (10/02/2010)
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Shift work in particular means that the worker can never fully regulate their body-clock as
they are working unusual hours. Individuals who work night-time shifts are more susceptible
to stress. Surveys carried out in Canada on shift workers state that Statistics revealed that
nearly 8 out of 10 (79 per cent) workers had experienced depression in 2002 and almost one
in five (19 per cent) rep orted very severe interference. 73 Likewise, a report by the European
Working Conditions Observatory, 74 confirms that shift work and night work causes high
levels of stress. The report includes tables to show the high risk factors associated with shift
work. The report demonstrates the stress levels associated with these types of job. In
particular the risk of stress is highest when the shift work is not kept to a regular routine.
Figure 15: Percentage of night and shift workers experiencing stress at work.
73 Shift Work Linked to Depression (2007) Available at
(19/02/2010)
74 Night Work and Shift Work Cause High Stress Levels (2006) Available at (21/02/2010)
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A report on Shift work wellbeing 75 shows further study into the detrimental effects of Shift
work. It states that 25 percent of people in western society now work in shifts; therefore the
problems could be affecting more people than in the past. However, shift work is
unavoidable in certain workplaces - for example, in health care, where people need to be
looked after through the night, therefore perhaps something can be done to improve the
conditions for these workers.
Often the conditions where people work are not beneficial to their wellbeing. Workplaces
often have very little natural light in the daytime and rely on electrical lighting. A report by
John M Eagles for the Royal College of P sychiatrics states that, th e increased likelihood of
working indoors over the past century has been linked to the increased recognition of
SAD. 76 This suggests there is a correlation between sustained exposure to indoor electrical
lighting and the workers psychological state.
Therefore psychological disorders relating to light could be becoming worse by the increase
in electrical lighting, in particular the amount of lighting at night. In countries with little
natural light in winter, the dark days result in electrical lighting being constantly used.
Likewise in summer, the days are bright and the nights are also brightly lit. Individuals are
subjected to constant lighting . This causes individuals body -clocks to be disrupted, one has
cause to wonder if the great white ways of big cities are indeed not generators of physical
75 Pease, E. Raether, K (2003) Shift Working and Well -being: A Physiological and Psychological Analysis ofShift Workers Available at < http://www.uwlax.edu/URC/JUR -online/PDF/2003/pease.pdf>(20/02/2010)
76 Eagles. J. (2004). Light Therapy and the Management of Winter Depression The Royal College of
Psychiatrists Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/10/3/233 >. (27/12/2009).
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Figure 18: Henry Thoreau. (2009). This map and study shows the increase in light pollution. 78
78 Thoreau. H D(2009.) .LIGHT POLLUTION To Increase as Population , and Energy use Increases . TheConservation Report . Available at
http://conservationreport.com/?s=light+pollution+increases+as+population+increases. March 8 2009,(22/01/2010)
http://conservationreport.com/http://conservationreport.com/http://conservationreport.com/http://conservationreport.com/http://conservationreport.com/?s=light+pollution+increases+as+population+increases.http://conservationreport.com/?s=light+pollution+increases+as+population+increases.http://conservationreport.com/http://conservationreport.com/ -
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The increase in electrical lighting is detrimental to peoples wellbeing. The art icle, Twenty
Four Hour Lighting Can Affect Your Health by Eisha Sarkar discusses this. Sarkar states
that scientists say,
Let there be light..., but not for 24 hours. A new study shows that bright street lightingand office blocks that remain lit all night could be affecting our mental health.Researchers said too much light at night can be linked to depression. 79
The article argues that, Those living in cities have long complained that fluorescent street
lights effect their ability to sleep, and can al ter their mood. 80 Psychologists have confirmed
that, being unable to escape to the dark can have a harmful effect on someone's
personality. 81 Artificial lighting is doing more harm than good. Sarkar discusses the results
from a case study in order to form this conclusion:
The researched involved 24 male laboratory mice, half were housed in light for 16hours a days , and darkness for eight hours, while the other half had 24 hours of light.Half of each group had dark tubes in their units that let them escape the light when theychose. The other half had similar tubes that were clear and let light in. After 3 weeks,the mice began a series of tests that are used to measure depression and anxiety inanimals. 82
The results showed that:
In all the tests, mice living in constant light showed more depressive-like symptomsthan those with normal light-dark cycles. Mice that lived in constant light, but could
79 Sarkar, E. (2009) 24 -hour Lighting can Affect your Mental Health. The Times . October [online] Available at
. (06/02/2010)
80 Sarkar, E. (2009) 24 -hour Lighting can Affect your Mental Health. The Times . October [online] Available at . (06/02/2010)
81 Sarkar, E. (2009) 24 -hour Lighting can Affect your Mental Health. The Times . October [online] Available at . (06/02/2010)
82 Sarkar, E. (2009) 24 -hour Lighting can Affect your Mental Health. The Times. October [online] Available
at < .http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-effect-your-mental-health.html Times online. October 2009. > (06/02/2010)
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in 20 American citizens suffer from Depression. Likewise an article by The Times, 86suggests
that Japan is on the verge of a suicide crisis. With 30, 093 people committing suicide in 2007.
This shows a correlation between the amount of artificial lighting and depression.
86
Lewis, L. (2008) Japan Gripped by Suicide Epidemic. The Times Online. Available at (21/02/2010)
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Individuals have lost control of how their environment is lit.
The invention of artificial lighting meant that people could create lighting whenever they
wanted. However although individuals should have been more able to control lighting as a
result, electrical lighting designers recognised the power that lies in this control and have
exploited its power for political, commercial, artistic, and other functions. Lighting became a
way that individuals could be controlled.
Jon Henley, the author of the essay life before artificial light 87 argues that street lighting
was, self evidently a powerful weapon of both economic and social control. 88 In particular it
enhanced the ability to control the mood of individuals.
Designers could more easily manipulate individuals by the design of lighting. They did this in
many ways, such as by illuminating the walkways in shopping centres in such a way that
people do not want to remain still. Also by lighting up shop windows at night, so that people
become constantly provoked by advertising. Urban planners began to use lighting to create
urban spaces that never sleep.
Therefore artificial light has increased both lightings potential as something which can be
controlled to orientate people within an environment and also to disorientate people. This
can lead to individuals who are becoming increasingly detached. For example, when walking
through a city like Tokyo at night, an individual is surrounded by lights, from every car and
building. Lighting completely invades every street. Whether designed to do so or accidently
so, lighting is attracting peoples attention, they are subjected to sensory overload. As a result
87 Henley, Jon. (2009) Life Before Artificial Light. Available athttp://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/31/life-before-artificial-light 31st october 2009. (10/02/2010)
88
Henley, Jon. (2009) Life Before Artificial Light. Available athttp://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/31/life-before-artificial-light 31st october 2009. (10/02/2010)
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individuals do not know where to look and cannot connect to any one thing. They become
disorientated and cut off from the environment they are in.
As a result of the mass of light and information which is constantly changing, individuals
cannot adjust and become alienated. J, Arp recognises this saying that, individuals become,
hidden away in his vanity like a mole in his hills [and they] no longer understand the
language of light which fills the sky with its inconceivable immensity. 89 People no longer
have the opportunity to enjoy the gradually increasing or diminishing light of dawn and dusk
or the starlight, instead they are confronted with electrical lighting throughout the day and
night. This can make individuals isolated. Karl Marx argued to be isolated was undesirable, iv
and that the further one looks back in history the more the individ ual appears as dependent,
as belonging to a greater whole. 90 Perhaps people have lost a sense of collective identity as
a result of too much lighting.
This suggests the psychological and social impact of not being in control of how the
environment is lit. As electrical lighting at night increasingly illuminates the urban
environment, individuals are affected more than one realises and this affects how people
understand themselves and other people.
Therefore perhaps variations in lighting and as result variations in relationships to the other
could be important. Roland Barthes in The Nauticus and the Drunken Boat, 91
argues the
importance of contrasting times of inner self exploration by being isolated, v with times of a
wider exploration of the surrounding environment. This suggests that that by engaging with
89 Arp J. (1948) On My Way- Poetry and Papers. Wittenborn Scultz inc. pg 49
90 Blackledge, P. (2008) Marxism and Ethics. Available at< http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=486&issue=120 >. (17/08/2009)
91 Barthes, R. (1991) Mythologies. The Nauticus, and the Drunken Boat. Noonday press. Pg 34
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the world an individual can contrast times where they understand how they relate to the
environment, with times of disorientation. Bachelards Poetics of Space states, For we are
where we are not. 92 Alienation can sometimes be beneficial, but this needs to be a
temporary state. From indulging in proximity of expression or losing oneself in the detail of
light and shade, one feels that one is in the presence of an essential impression seeking
expr ession. 93 By losing oneself, one is better enabled to express who they are and to form
knowledge. Variations of light and darkness allow individuals to go between these two states.
But as a result of too much electrical lighting people are not allowed this opportunity. This
results in individuals who are psychologically unstable and isolated.
Therefore too little or too much light is not beneficial. Light is more beneficial when it is
varied. The quality rather than the quantity of lighting is worth considering. Mende states that
there is, nothing more excruciating than staying in an environment with invariable light. 94
He argues that lighting at night is important, but it has to be done with extreme consideration
of the effects on those being subjected to it. Lighting must not be too constant or be
constantly changing, people being subjected to sensory deprivation or sensory overload is not
healthy. Therefore it would be beneficial to the psychological state of individuals for artificial
lighting to be more carefully controlled and designed, for the lighting to subtly change rather
than being too constant or changing too often.
Moreover, perhaps individuals are easily manipulated as a result of being unaware of how
light affects them. Therefore individuals could benefit by being more aware and designers
92 Bachelard, Gaston. Poetics of Space. Beacon press. 1992 pg 211
93 Bachelard, Gaston. Poetics of Space. Beacon press. 1992 pg 186
94 Mende, K , lighting planners associates Inc. (2000) Designing with Light and Shadow. Australia images publishing group. pg 15
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could consider ways to enable individuals to have greater control over the lighting of the
spaces they use.
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Chapter 3: Lighting the Environment to Increase the Wellbeing of
Individuals.
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light,The blue and the dim and the dark clothsOf night and light and the half-light.
W.B Yeats (1911) From The Wind Among The Reeds 95.
Yeats is evoking his desire to be able to have control over the light of the sky, to be able to
change his experience of light to suit his needs. How one experiences lighting within the
environment is fundamental to ones psychological stability. Lighting designer Mende states
that, lighting design does not merely serve a practical or functional role, but has the power to
appeal directly to the human spirit or sensibility. 96 Ernest Hemingway, in the story A Clean,
Well- Lighted Place, 97 portrays a character whose main desire is to be in place that is well lit.
The cafe was a clean and pleasant cafe. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also,
now, t here are shadows of the leaves. 98 The cafe owner says Each night I am reluctant to
close up because there may be someone who ne eds the cafe. 99 The suggestion is made that
this is something that most people desire.
95 Yeats, W. (1911) The Wind Above the Reeds . Elkin Matthews.
96 Mende, K , lighting planners associates Inc. (2000) Designing with Light and Shadow. Australia images publishing group. pg 12
97 Hemingway, E. (1990) A Clean Well- Lighted Place. Creative Education. pg 5
98
Hemingway, E. (1990) A Clean Well- Lighted Place. Creative Education. pg 599 Hemingway, E. (1990) A Clean Well- Lighted Place. Creative Education. pg 5
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These sources suggest that as lighting is so intrinsic to peoples sensibility. How they feel
about themselves and the other. It has the power to make an individual feel comfortable and
psychologically stable, or uncomfortable and stressed and depressed. It is, therefore,
important that individuals have an understanding of how light affects them and that they have
ways to control lighting to suit how they are feeling and their needs in a space.
In order to be able to light the environment to suit their needs, it is imperative that each
individual understands how light affects them. Beck, in her article, Bright Ideas for Treating
Winter Blues, suggests it is possib le to, calculate your own melatonin onset point. [This is
done by taking] the morning ness / evening ness test at the w ebsite of the Centre for
Environmental Therapeutics, a non-profit group of researchers studying light and circadian
rhythms. 100 An individual can use this website to calculate their individual relationship to
light, thus calculating out how to light their environment to suit their needs. In particular,
what times they should avoid exposure to bright lights, as this can affect their productivity
and their circadian rhythms.
The environment can be adapted to suit the needs of individuals. Psychiatrists are starting to
experiment with new ways to treat patients suffering with psychiatric disorders, by designing
the environment to suit their needs. Instead of treating patients with medication to try to fit
the patient into the classification of normal society, psychiatrists are beginning to construct
an environment around the needs of the patient.
100 Beck, M. (2009) Bright Ideas for Treating Winter Blues. Available at (01/02/2010.)
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Nidotherapy is the, formal term introduced to describe the systematic manipulation of the
physical and social environment, to help achieve a better fit for a person with a persistent or
permanent mental disorder. 101 Psychiatrists argue that this treatments success is because it
aims to change the en vironment not the person. This is because one of the reasons why
patients are so dissatisfied with current therapeutic systems is that they are perceived as
making them into people they are not. 102 It suggests that mental illness arises from being
out of synchronisation with the surrounding environment: We hypothesised that many
people with apparently intractable forms of mental illness, were out of harmony with their
environment. 103 Further t hat, choice and control of the environment are taken for
granted. 104 This confirms the importance of controlling the environment to suit each
individuals needs.
As light is so fundamental to the environment, it is therefore the most crucial element to
begin to control: As Jonathan Speirs, Author of Made of Light states: the environment could
be controlled through the location, distribution and manipulation of light. 105 The authors of
this psychiatric paper state that:
101 Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work.. The R oyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
102 Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work.. The Royal
College of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
103 Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work.. The RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
104 Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work.. The RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
105 Major, M. Speirs, J .Tischhauser , A. Made of Light - The Art of Light and Architecture. Birkhauser
publication. 2005. Pg 34
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instead of having a large number of individuals competing for a limited space in the sunwe are creating a set of mini environments each fashioned to suit the person it isaccommodating, not in competition with everyone else and which allows everyone tosucceed. 106
This suggests that a balance can be made in allowing the individual to tailor the environment
to their requirements, whilst also allowing people to live in harmony with others.
Nidotherapy, not only recognises that paying attention to the environment in mental health is
valuable, but goes further by arguing that the systematic planning and management of the
environment, is the best way to create mental harmony as a long term goal. 107 Therefore, as
well as leaving the designs of public and private space to those trained to design; individuals
need to play an active role in how the spaces they use are lit. Collaborations between
designers, psychiatrists, and ordinary individuals could be beneficial in terms of increasing
the wellbeing of an individual. The individual could be enabled to control the variety,
quantity and intensity of lighting.
Nidot herapists argue the importance of, seeing the environment through the eyes of the patient. 108 The treatment should not dictate how the environment should be changed, but
should allow the patient to lead the proceedings. In order that the, primary improvem ent
should be in social function. 109 As a result, better adjustment of the environment should
106
Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work.. The RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
107 Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work. The RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
108 Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work. The RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
109 Ba jaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work. The Royal
College of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232%20.%202005.%3e%20pg%201 -
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lead to improved social functioning. 110 The paper states that the patient must be adapted into
a society, the main aim of nidotherapy is to get a good personal fi t between individual, and
environment. Furthermore, this cannot be done in isolation, and has to take account of wider
environmental needs, including those of society; 111 because, the notion is that the patient is
in con trol of a nidotherapy programme. 112 Each individual is enabled to create the
environment to best suit their needs, but the wider community is also considered.
This chapter argues the importance of controlling lighting within the urban environment to
help individuals. Surveys carried out by the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians argue
that, it is possible to increase the quality of life by improving lighting conditions. 113
Therefore individuals could benefit by having a better understanding of how lighting affects
them in order to control lighting to best suit their individual needs. It will discuss examples of
designers who are enhancing the use of natural light and are allowing more control over how
spaces are lit. It suggests that designers are beginning to understand the importance of having
the ability to regulate and vary lighting in the same way as heat and the orientation of space,
within their works.
110
Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work. The RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
111 Bajaj, P. Tyrer, P. (2005) Nidotherapy: Making the Environment do the Therapeutic Work.. The RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists. Available at < http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/11/3/232 . 2005.> pg1.( 02/02/2010)
112 Bajaj, P. T