Welcome to our second of five dispatches on Five Gold Things for 2024. If you missed our thoughts on animism, you can view it here. But for now…
Let there be light
No, we’re not talking about the dodgy estate agent themed Christmas lights on our local high streets…
Lighting design is of course nothing new (it actually dates back to the design of Greek outdoor amphitheatre stages), however, in the year ahead we’re going to have increased focus as a studio on light in its broadest sense. Earlier this year we enjoyed visiting the exhibition Thin Air, which transformed the vast new cultural venue The Beams through intangible design — nothing solid, just light, sound and atmospheric effects.
Public health messaging is increasingly factoring in the importance of exposure to bright morning and afternoon light. It’s crucial in supporting our circadian rhythms, immune systems and mental health. Since 2018 we’ve collaborated with sleep scientist Russell Foster on our Night Club programme supporting night workers. Helping participants to get more light exposure, which is one of the major pillars of Foster’s work, has been central to the initiative. Foster is now researching his next major book, Light: The New Science of a Hidden Life Force, on how natural light affects human life, which will be published by Penguin in 2026.
We’ve all noticed the proliferation of light devices in the last decade — from Lumie alarm clocks to red LED lights for muscle recovery and those terrifying-looking cyborg masks that allegedly make us look younger. Some reputable, some… a bit dodgy. The shops are awash with these devices and it’s a subject that still feels overwhelming. As a culture we’re now aware of the problems of too much blue light exposure in the evening, but more generally, we’re still developing our language of light and our thinking around exposure to the sun.
At The Liminal Space, we’re interested in how light can be used to craft reflective spaces and those that more consciously support our health, outside of the physio settings or wellness resorts where they’re usually deployed. What would it feel like to come and explore and expose ourselves to different types of light, without panpipe spa music in the background?
Our sense is that the technology is there, but that there is scope to expand our repertoire on where, how and when people can access these sorts of environments. In the meantime we’ll make sure that any time it’s sunny, we’ll get out for a walk…
Next we’ll be thinking about the question — What’s in the pipeline?
