the psychological effects of light

8/10/2019 The Psychological Effects of Light

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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
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Carl_Jung/http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Carl_Jung/


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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

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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.

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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
http://www.artcat.com/exhibits/5676http://www.artcat.com/exhibits/5676http://www.artcat.com/exhibits/5676


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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


37 Eliot, T. S. (1944) Four Quartets. Faber and Faber.



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)
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/07/sensory_deprivation.%202009http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/07/sensory_deprivation.%202009


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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.)


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)
http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html.%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html.%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html.%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html.%20Times%20online.%20October%202009http://www.timeswellness.com/article/11/2009102920091028152546578cbc3835a/24hour-lighting-can-affect-your-mental-health.html.%20Times%20online.%20October%202009


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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



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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.


97 Hemingway, E. (1990) A Clean Well- Lighted Place. Creative Education. pg 5

98

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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.

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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)


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)


112 Bajaj, P. T

the psychological effects of light

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