Real-time lighting design: a pioneer, a work, and a collaboration

ABSTRACT This article proposes three stories that exemplify different metaphors, mechanics, and practices of real-time lighting design. Starting with the example of cybernetician Gordon Pask’s Musicolour, the article proposes a cybernetic-based model of control that favors principles of human–machine co-operation. Then, the analysis of the collaboration between a lighting designer and a multimedia artist illustrates the need for and challenges of radical interdisciplinarity during the production of a stage performance. Finally, the description of a contemporary multimedia installation demonstrates the principles of an aesthetic of lighting grounded in machine-based behaviors. Through those three stories, this article aims to initiate a discussion on the hybridization of lighting with real-time computing, a process that significantly transforms the practice of artists and lighting designers but remains understudied.