Abstract

Light as a subject of thought has proved impossible to deal with holistically. Light is intrinsic to the farthest reaches of physics, psychology, philosophy, art, etc. The conceptual structures to deal with light have been quite complex, often resulting in contradictions and paradoxes, e.g., light is conceived in terms of space and time, themselves functions of light. Knowing light appears to leave a remainder. Light cannot be wholly captured by thought; the experience of light does not reduce to knowledge of light. Perhaps more than any other phenomenon, light poses problems of distinguishing between the physical object and the object in mind. The record of thought about light shows that distinguishing between subjective and objective aspects of light has been notoriously difficult and a recurrent effort, apparently necessary towards understanding light. The author argues that light demands the reconciliation of concept and experience, objective and subjective aspects; dividing these limits understanding of light. In developing a research method that combines both the semantics and architectonics of light, the author draws from his original Light Dance art form towards a holistic understanding of light that reflects mindmatter continuity.