On October 4-8, OISTAT Headquarters invited Henk van der Geest, Former Head of OISTAT Lighting Design Group, to bring his artistic insights and methodology of lighting design to professionals and general public in Taiwan. The Lighting Forum was led by Henk van der Geest, along with three other notable designers from Taiwan. Ta-Wei Lin (Principal of Chan Moon Architecture Lighting Design), Chi-Yang Chiang (Artistic Director at We Do Group) and I-Hua Kao (Lighting Designer), all have completed many renowned projects across local communities.
Aura Seeker──Lighting Forum
Sunday, October 4th 2015
The first keynote speech of the forum was given by Henk van der Geest, on the topic of storytelling through lights. He began by telling the audiences that often when people asked him whether you consider yourself a theatre or an architecture lighting designer, his answer would always be, ”I am designing lights for people.” In Henk’s iLo Institute, peer-to-peer feedback and comments are the most crucial elements of the program. In iLo Institute, Henk suggested that they put more focuses on coaching and guiding young emerging designers rather than just simply teaching. He mentioned that having a good understanding of spectrums is significant in lighting designers’ process of creation and that more attentions should be placed on enhancing sensitivity to colors and awareness of the space around you. When telling stories through light, you are creating an image and an atmosphere, and that depends heavily on how well you grasp the concepts behind your work and how much time you dedicated to listening to what your customer’s needs and wants are.
Later, the second keynote speech was given by Ta-Wei Lin on Lighting Design and Sensibility- Lighting design as culture representation. When talking about culture, we are facing a very broad term encompassing a wide range of topics. Ta-Wei Lin revealed his take on the notion of culture by saying when a group of people with similar interests come together, it can be seen as culture. In hope to represent such an abstract concept using light, one has to look carefully for identity of your culture. To do that, Ta-Wei Lin added that sometimes it would be helpful if we take a step back from ourselves in order to see a bigger and clearer picture. Ta-Wei Lin reminded us the importance e of removing ourselves from the equation may sometimes help us to better receive what the outer world has to offer. In panel discussion, all keynote speakers were invited to delve deeper into the world of light. Speakers shared similar views in being aware of the relationship between human beings with nature, and the idea of spending less time in using electronic devices. Henk shared his way of combating jet lag by taking a walk outside, letting the sunlight be the best tool of telling the body to get back its rhythm. Furthermore, speakers talked about how their backgrounds have helped them in looking at light from a totally different perspective. Indeed, coming from a literature background, it helped in reading between the lines when trying to understand a script, said Yi-Hua Kao. Ta-Wei Lin, also an architect, said that you can only master lighting design if you are able to write a good letter with proper use of punctuation, stressing the importance of structure in the field of design in general.
Later, the second keynote speech was given by Ta-Wei Lin on Lighting Design and Sensibility- Lighting design as culture representation. When talking about culture, we are facing a very broad term encompassing a wide range of topics. Ta-Wei Lin revealed his take on the notion of culture by saying when a group of people with similar interests come together, it can be seen as culture. In hope to represent such an abstract concept using light, one has to look carefully for identity of your culture. To do that, Ta-Wei Lin added that sometimes it would be helpful if we take a step back from ourselves in order to see a bigger and clearer picture. Ta-Wei Lin reminded us the importance e of removing ourselves from the equation may sometimes help us to better receive what the outer world has to offer.
In panel discussion, all keynote speakers were invited to delve deeper into the world of light. Speakers shared similar views in being aware of the relationship between human beings with nature, and the idea of spending less time in using electronic devices. Henk shared his way of combating jet lag by taking a walk outside, letting the sunlight be the best tool of telling the body to get back its rhythm. Furthermore, speakers talked about how their backgrounds have helped them in looking at light from a totally different perspective. Indeed, coming from a literature background, it helped in reading between the lines when trying to understand a script, said Yi-Hua Kao. Ta-Wei Lin, also an architect, said that you can only master lighting design if you are able to write a good letter with proper use of punctuation, stressing the importance of structure in the field of design in general.
Aura Seeker──Master WorkshopMonday-Thursday, October 5th – 8th 2015 During the 4-day workshop followed by the forum, seventeen participants coming from different backgrounds were to create a 3-5 minutes piece on the last day of the workshop. Based on the materials they brought in with them in the beginning, which include photos, music, video, illustration and things that inspired them. They organized themselves into six groups and all made great success at the end in transforming ideas into reality. Henk van der Geest and another famous lighting designer and educator Chih-Heng Chuang, offered great assistance to the participants while giving them freedom for wild and creative ideas to be generated and realized at the same time. A big thank you to Henk van der Geest for coming to “Aura Seeker──Lighting Forum & Master Workshop” held in Taipei, Taiwan.
Aura Seeker──Master Workshop
Monday-Thursday, October 5th – 8th 2015
During the 4-day workshop followed by the forum, seventeen participants coming from different backgrounds were to create a 3-5 minutes piece on the last day of the workshop. Based on the materials they brought in with them in the beginning, which include photos, music, video, illustration and things that inspired them. They organized themselves into six groups and all made great success at the end in transforming ideas into reality. Henk van der Geest and another famous lighting designer and educator Chih-Heng Chuang, offered great assistance to the participants while giving them freedom for wild and creative ideas to be generated and realized at the same time.
A big thank you to Henk van der Geest for coming to “Aura Seeker──Lighting Forum & Master Workshop” held in Taipei, Taiwan.
Photo: PiCheng Wang
More photos on Flickr
