Aliya Kerimujiang- Irvine Spectrum Center

“I am dizzy, do you feel the same?” I ask my friend Beverly who is also on the mission of finding man-made light with me tonight.

“There’s too much stimulation here, I felt it earlier too.”  I see the reflection of light through her eyes.

Sundown,  lights on. A new adventure has begun.  I have been waiting for this moment for too long. After 6 weeks of intensive training on becoming an artist, I need a little break for myself. 

Beverly drives us to Irvine Spectrum. 

“Yeah~~~~” I can’t help to not make some noise once I see the Ferris Wheel in the Plaza. Something is going to happen today!

Once we get out of the parking lot, we enter this paved road surrounded by the shining  trees. The source of light hidden under the tree creates a peaceful, serene look. What is unique about this way of street lighting is that it creates a mysterious, quiet feeling upon entering, since there’s no direct lighting source on the road. This design is very successful in my eyes because it speaks to me. It almost feels like the lighting designer is telling me: “Something is going to happen at the end of this paved road. Take your time and enjoy the light.

Here we are, in  this commercialized man-made plaza.  I SEE so many lights. My eyes and my brain can’t process all of these lights at the same time. There are so many things going on. Every light here is teaching me something,  every light here is telling me something, every light here is pointing at something, every light here is asking me to buy something. It’s so beautiful that it’s almost overwhelming.  I feel like a child who gets lost in a candy store. I SEE everything. I never seen light from this perspective, and I never knew I had the magic to decode the secret of man-made light. They were hidden in front of me in a most obvious way. 

A lot of  restaurants use  ambient yellow, amber dim light to create a luxurious feeling to attract middle or high-class customers. I thought it was interesting that people associate this kind of color with high statuses or “expensive” taste. The best and worst example is the Subway Store

The Subway Store

I don’t know how to comment on this light without being sassy.  Right after I enter this magical wonderland, I see gorgeous fountains that change into myriads of color. I hear families walking around laughing and playing.  A glorious, fancy palace-looking building enters my eyes. It almost reminds me of the restaurant-Han Dynasty in Philadelphia, they have a beautiful interior design and lighting. I step closer to the restaurant to give a closer look with hope of finding my favorite lighting tonight.  All I see is this unmatchable sign: SUBWAY on the top of this fancy looking building with luxurious dim amber light outside of the building wall. And the inside of the restaurant has literally the most appropriate subway lighting. The standard working light actually reminds of me how Subway in New York city feels like, smells like and also looks like.  So, tell me what you think about this restaurant light? Do you think this is the vibe they are going for?

I’m going to give the best lighting reward to the Village gallery tonight,  because I see the purpose of the light inside the store. The interior designer and lighting designer really did a good job on collaboration. The function of the light  is to support the pictures to tell their own stories. I’m only 10 feet away from the store, but feels like the inside of the glass door is another universe. 

Just like this, our mission of finding light ends at the Village gallery. .

See you next week:)

November, 9th, 2019