The free-to-the-public event invited visitors to enjoy a sound (Native American flute music performed by Karen Rugg) and light show (courtesy of Atmosphere Lighting), which took advantage of the unique acoustic and Gothic architectural elements of the landmark building.
4 comments:
I surprisingly really enjoyed this article!At first sight, I thought this article was yet another lighting analysis or technical explanation that I was going to neither understand or relate to. However, I was surprised by photographs that revealed so much more than a technical master of lights. Instead, this article also revealed a beautiful painting which incorporates the old with the new all within one frame of photography. They way the camera lens captures the movement of the architecture along with the flow of the beams and colors of lights make me fell as if I was really at this event. I can see myself sitting still as the beautiful lights changed to reveal and hide different aspects of the world around me. This is so unlike any religious light show I have seen before. I think to compare this to a rock show at a southern baptist church, complete with lasers and haze, would be offensive to the art that was made. This show was obviously not made with the intent of being showy. It was made as art.
I am not a religious person so when I saw the title “The Washington National Cathedral Was Lit Last Night” my first reaction was it most certainly wasn’t. As a forced attendant of mass every Sunday service was the worst hour and a half of my week was spent inside of a church, so my first reaction was there is no was the cathedral could be lit. In my eyes the lights fulfilled my idea of what a church should be, I actually saw a house of god, and quite possibly a religion that I could respect. If I was in the area, despite my disdain for anything with a religious connotation, I would definitely enjoy “Native American flute music performed by Karen Rugg”. Looking at the lighting design I can practically hear the music and taste the atmosphere. Hear the quiet murmurs of visitors mix with the shuffle of feet and soft hum of the air circulating the huge arches.
Article Rating:
7/10
Notes:
“The bells are jiggling and the angels are making Jesus”.
This is quite an interesting exhibit! i feel that the church is embracing more new age practices to draw a crowd. and i dont think that that is a bad thing. The lighting really showed off the classical Gothic architecture. The use of native american flute in the space reminds me of a yoga studio but i think that is a great way to draw a crowd who may be turned off by the usual approaches that a church may take to draw a crowd (Jesus rock concerts and such) I also think that this exhibit really did a good job touching spirituality while not being exclusively religious. The space in this atmosphere really opens up as a spiritual hub for anyone. Now you cant divorcee the fact that it is a christian church but i feel what they did with the space really offered an environment that anyone would feel welcome coming to.
I’m glad that the earthquake repairs are far enough along that they could remove the overhead netting. The rainbow of colors really works in the neo-gothic setting. The stained glass windows are dark, but it is like the entire cathedral was put inside the window’s colors. I do wonder if they had to adjust angles or somehow block the main stained glass windows so they wouldn’t catch the light. While I like the thin lines of pattern, like in the second photo, I think that larger areas of pattern sometimes muddled the architectural lines, like in the sixth photo. I think that blending solid colors has a much stronger effect and better complemented the detailed architecture of the space. I love that the lighting focused on the painted arches and the ceiling, the height and layers of the space. The altar was simply lit and not the focal point of most of the photos, so it really was about the space instead of the religion. I wish they had also posted a recording of the music that was being played to get a better sense of the experience.
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