The Actor and Her Light Are a Pair

The audience hushes as the actor enters. She glides through shadows to a pool of light, and begins to speak.

On a dark stage, an actor is irrelevant until they are lit. The starting condition is darkness. If the actor isn’t lit, the actor isn’t there. So the light that falls on them is no accident. It has been set beforehand to happen.

In theater, every actor has a light pre-assigned whenever they do something important.

Every light has a purpose to light what’s important.

The actor and her light are a pair.

Here’s the thing:
Our experiences have more in common with theater than almost any other kind of space. Every element needs at least one light assigned to it, dedicated or shared.

When a designer imagines a new element in an exhibition, lights should simultaneously pop into existence in their imagination to light it. Is there a location nearby for lights? How far away? Where? If you decide not to have that element, those lights can disappear from your mind as easily as they came.

But until you do — that exhibition element and its light are a pair.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:
NIC (Not In Contract). In the drawings for a building project (like an exhibition), "NIC" can be used to clearly label things the contractor is not meant to build. For example, a floor plan for an exhibit might label a nearby area "Restroom (NIC)."

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Last Chance!
Have you worked on a great exhibition or experience design project recently? The SEGD Global Design Awards final deadline is this week, on March 15. “Since 1987, the SEGD Global Design Awards have set the standard of excellence for experiential design, honoring work that connects people to place.” (And I’m not just saying that because I’m the Jury Chair this year.)