The Light Observer #6

The Light Observer is an independent magazine based between France and Italy, exploring the theme of light in art, sciences, photography, cinema, fashion, philosophy, architecture…

The Light Observer explores light and how artists, photographers, scientists and more, understand and use light in their work.

You will find:
Photographic series by both emerging and established photographers. Interviews with renowned creatives in the field of art, cinema and fashion.

Interviews with philosophers, scientists, architects and essays on the meaning, understanding and use of light in those fields.

Artists creating exclusive artworks for the magazine.

Issue #6 -The Play Issue

This sixth issue revolves around the theme of “Play”.

Play of lights, theatre play, play of colour, playgrounds, play of the wind on the sand, playfulness... Duchamp reportedly said: “art is a game between all people of all periods”.

Featured Contributors
Jordy van den Nieuwendijk, Sargy Mann, Scott Snibbe, Jeff Keen, Stella Starr, Nico Krijno, Laida Lertxundi, Jaya Pelupessy, Studio AOAO, Tokio Matsubara, Francis Alys, Bruce Nauman, and an exclusive series by German painter Franziska Goes.

Lead Artist
Interview with Jordy van den Nieuwendijk, Dutch artist living in Melbourne exploring everyday objects, playing with shape and colour. His body of work walks the line between abstract and figurative art. We spoke with him about his love of drawing, which brings him back to the days of his childhoo.

Interview with Stella Starr about her father, pioneer of experimental cinema, Jeff Keen. A magnificient jack-of-all-trades, experimenting with drawing, painting and animation, redefining multimedia art in Britain.

Photographic series and interview with South African artist Nico Krijno. We discussed digital collages, multi-sensuous reality and playing with his Epson scanner on his last series.

Interview with acclaimed conceptual film maker Laida Lertxundi, telling her story as an artist, the bright light of Los Angeles, the experience of time in cinema, teaching and how to relate to a place.

Photographic series by Jaya Pelupessy entitled Flatten Image. A series studying the reproduction process of an image, manipulation techniques and multiple exposures, creating singular “light collages”.

Francis Alÿs’s Espejos video, showing boys in Mexico playing with broken mirrors and light. This particular video captures the essence of children’s games, the beauty of their choreography, the children's inventiveness and the game’s ability to extract oneself from society and a given place - for the duration of the game.

In Falls, Pratfalls and Sleights of Hand (Clean Version), Bruce Nauman returns to the theme of his earlier videos: the exploration of the human body, and beyond that the relationship between body and language, control and surveillance. The body as a sculptural element, as well as the performance character, which takes on clownish features. In his artistic practice, Nauman plays with the nature of language, as well as questioning human behaviour and body.

Thoughts
Essay on the practice and body of work of English painter Sargy Mann. Throughout his life, he had a fascination with the nature of visual perception and a desire to make paintings that could communicate his experience of the world. Described by The Guardian as “the blind painter of Peckham”, he was diagnosed with cataracts at the age of 36 and eventually lost his sight, but never stopped painting.

Interview with digital and interactive artist Scott Snibbe. Reflexions around science and art, inventing things and psychological experiences. He collaborated with musicians and filmmakers including Björk, Philip Glass and James Cameron as well as produced several bestselling  art apps, including the world’s first “app album”  by Björk: Biophilia.

Photographic series by Tokio Matsubara and essay on his series “A Canvas of Sand”. Thoughts on the subjectivity of the artist, the links between painting and photography and the poetic writing of the light on the beach. Text by Sarah Nasla & Margot Rouas.

Collaborations
Series of paintings by German artist Franziska Goes. Quoting the artist: “My process is both calculated and extremely open. It encompasses various facets of the painterly in order to let a wide range of surface and textural qualities interact with one another. In the picture they collide, run in parallel or nestle against each other”. An essay by Ace Ehrlich sheds light on her practice.

A glimpse into Studio AOAO’s approach to design and lighting solutions and how they create emotional connection between the object and the user. Thoughts on the experience of intimacy and the metaphysical bond between personal interaction and meaningful narrative.