The intent of lighting sculpture is to make form emerge from darkness and shadow as a multi-dimensional experience. It takes more than luminance to create this effect. Darkness is equally important to light because shadow is necessary to create the impression of a virtual reality much like the actual reality we live in. Shadows are also necessary to accentuate the three dimensional nature of the forms and curves that constitute the piece. This makes lighting a sculpture very different than lighting a painting, because a painting is two-dimensional image, whereas a carving or statue always differentiates itself from the background as an emerging, three-dimensional form.
The degree of success you will have in lighting sculpture depends on the amount of ambient light you shine upon the piece. Direct light has only a limited ability to bring out the differentiating features of three-dimensional art. Recessed art lighting is much more effective because it has creates more of a field of light than a bright beam of light. In most art lighting applications regardless of type or genre, a bright ray or beam of light is something we want to avoid because it can create white spots and reflective glare.
Focused lighting is much better for sculptures and lighting pictures because it enhances the subject that creates a luminosity that brings texture, form, and color to the forefront of the viewer’s perception. This requires sophisticated equipment and typically a number of different fixture types. Just how many fixtures, and what type of fixtures we use, depends on the size and shape of the sculpture. There are many dynamics here to consider beyond width, length, and height. We tend to visualize a statue of a human form when we think of sculpture, but in reality there is far greater diversity in this genre than we are typically conscious and aware.
For example, many celebratory pieces depict historical leaders on horseback. What we have in these depictions is really not one form, but two. We have to treat both man and horse as the separate entities they are, but we also have to emphasize the symbiotic oneness of horse and rider in the way we light the sculpture. It is not possible to do this with only a single recessed light fixture or even type of fixture. Such a piece will have to be illuminated from a variety of angles and with at least three distinct layers of light and corresponding shadows to highlight such features as muscle tone, facial expression, hair, weaponry, uniform, and regalia. This is a tall order for any designer to fill, and it requires the very best in equipment and years of training and expertise in art lighting design to accomplish.
Specification grade equipment is an absolute necessity for lighting sculpture. It simply will not be possible to achieve the same level of subtlety or complexity as we can with commercial grade equipment. Specification grade lamps, lenses, optical reflectors, and lighting control systems are much more advanced than those of retail grade equipment. It is essential that we rely upon such advanced technology and use its full potential in the creation of complex lighting arrays and layered lighting effects essential to the proper presentation of statuary and other fine art. Photometric designs and three-dimensional modeling is a key element to our design process that allows us to configure these systems in advance and select the most appropriate and robust fixtures for the task at hand.
As a lighting design services firm we have unlimited access to lighting manufacturers. Illuminations Lighting knows how to plan lighting and installs only the best equipment for lighting sculptures. We can also act as a consulting firm assisting local electricians who require aesthetic expertise in the many nuances of art and gallery lighting, and we function strictly in a design, planning role as a source of multiple configuration plans that give collectors and curators the freedom of choice between two or more viable options.
Since 1980, Illuminations Lighting Deign has grown to include a team of over 50 talented and dedicated employees. Specialty divisions have been created to focus on such disciplines as lighting design, electrical contracting, landscape lighting and home automation. Having specialists in each of these disciplines, while remaining true to the mission of offering home owners the "complete picture" of lighting design, is key to continued success at Illuminations Lighting. We invite you to contact us toll free at 800-863-1184 or locally at 713-863-1133.
We are located in Houston Texas but provide lighting and house lighting plans in Austin TX, El Paso Texas, San Antonio TX, College Station Texas, Beaumont TX, Dallas Texas, Midland Tx and points beyond. Labels: Artwork Lighting Experts, Corporate Art Consultants, Fine Art Lighting Consultants, Lighting Designers, Lighting Sculptures, Sculpture Lighting
What is Residential Transient Voltage Surge?
It is a spike in electrical voltage that exceeds 2000V and 100 amperes in current. There have been a number of documented instances where TVS has been as high as 20,000 volts and has exceeded 2,000 amps in current. You can only imagine how devastating this can be to anything electronic in your house.
What causes TVS?
Transient voltage surge is precipitated by two categories of causes.
Lightning
When it strikes high power lines or transformers, it can travel up to 3 miles with enough force to destroy every major appliance in the home. While this is a major cause for concern, it is not the only concern to consider when gauging the level of protection needed to protect home electronics. Many forms of equipment can cause power fluctuations that will similarly damage sensitive electronics, climate control systems, and data lines coming into the home.
Electrical devices
Many devices in your home can actually cause transient voltage surge. The electric motors in refrigerators and air conditioners can precipitate an incident. Ballasts in fluorescent lights can trigger it. Even portable power tools can trigger TVS. Perhaps the most overlooked, but nevertheless common cause is faulty wiring in the home circuit panel.
Lightning has never struck near my home, but I do have many of the devices you have mentioned. How can I find out of any of them are causing TVS?
Relatively low power surges often damage equipment rather than destroying it outright. You may notice high performance equipment that is supposed to perform at exceptional standards suddenly experiencing unexplained downtime or a noticeable drop in quality. This often occurs high-end stereo and television equipment, but you may also notice it in your AC, your kitchen appliances, your phone system, or your computer and peripherals.
What do I do if I see clear evidence of transient voltage surge?
Do not try to troubleshoot it yourself. Investigating circuitry can be dangerous, or perhaps even deadly, without extensive training and experience in electrical engineering. Call Illuminations Lighting and Design and request a visit from one of our licensed electrical experts. We will run a series of tests on your home circuit panel and compile a quality assessment report on your home wiring. If we find any problems, we will recommend a professionally configured, custom-installed home surge suppression system.
That already sounds expensive. Why can I not just install AC surge suppressors on all my equipment and appliances?
There are two reasons not to do this. First, the average retail AC suppressor cannot withstand the power of a full-on assault from something like a lightning strike. Second, not everything in your house runs on an AC circuit. Your phone and data lines, for example, are different types of circuits that can and will blow out from TVS.
How expensive do you think it will be to lose your computer, all of your data, your television and stereo, and possibly your AC system all on the same bad day?
What type of surge suppressors do you recommend then?
Commercial, specification grade surge suppressors are the most reliable protection for your home. Many different types and sizes exist to protect the many types of circuits that constitute the entirety of your home electrical network. Our work as electrical engineers consists of matching the most appropriate suppressor to a specific circuit type, power load, or device type to ensure maximum protection. This layering of multiple device types is called whole house surge suppression and is an electrical design specialist of Illuminations Lighting and Design.
Contact Illuminations Lighting Design (713) 863-1133 and schedule an onsite evaluation of how to best protect your home and electronics investments. Labels: Advanced Electrical Installations, Houston Electrical Contractors, Houston Residential Surge Protection, Transient Surge Protection Systems, Whole House Surge Protection
To get superior results when lighting your art collection, we recommend you obtain your art lighting fixtures and art lighting design services from ILD. The type of equipment we provide is high-end, sensitive, and requires considerable technical and design expertise to select, install, and maintain the appropriate high quality art lighting fixtures.
Our first priority is to make sure that your artwork lighting fixtures are performing at optimal levels. We have seen, in many cases that the integrity of some lamps will gradually deteriorate and depreciate. On MR16 lamps, for instance, this degradation causes color to shift either to the red or green end of the spectrum. People typically do not notice this shift, because the change is so subtle and gradual that their eyes adjusted to the change daily without ever consciously being aware of the deterioration. It is for this reason that we recommend you have a trained professional periodically examine your artwork lighting and test your equipment for this deterioration and upgrade to a better, more efficient replacement when necessary.
Many times as well, we run across clients who have installed high voltage art lighting fixtures. This is often done by people who purchase retail-grade equipment themselves and hire an electrician to install it. The problem with high voltage equipment is that it does not have the same lamp selection as line voltage fixtures use for fine art lighting applications. Low voltage lights generally have better beam control, far less UV radiation, and consume much less power than high voltage equivalents.
If you upgrade now, you will start saving you money on electrical costs in two respects. Cooling costs will be lower if the room temperature remains at a lower constant. Power bills will also decrease because there is less electricity consumed by the lamps themselves.
Low voltage recessed art lighting equipment has become so effective that manufacturers now make a plethora of art lighting fixtures in low voltage models. Everything from optical framing projectors, eyeball fixtures, recessed art lights, pinhole lights, and even track lights can now be obtained in low voltage models. We advise that if you are using any high voltage lights that you upgrade now to more current, more energy efficient low-voltage fixtures. You will both recover your investment through power cost savings, and you will be able to light your paintings for longer periods of time without fear of heat buildup. For those with track lights, you can even upgrade the fixtures without having to replace the track itself.
Because so many of the systems we service have been not really been strategically designed, but instead piece mealed over time, it is not unusual for us to encounter a mixture of specification grade and retail grade art lighting fixtures in a single room. As a professional lighting design firm that maintains a relationship with art lighting manufacturers, we are always happy to help our clients select and replace inferior grade products with high-end upgrades. This saves corporate art consultants and art curators a tremendous amount of money in cumulative replacement costs. Specification grade fixtures usually feature a longer lamp life and a more predictable performance curve. By upgrading the entire system now, you will only spend money in the form of a onetime purchase. Over time, you will get money back through the savings you accumulate by minimizing constant equipment replacements.
We always save our clients money by giving them as much direct control as possible over their picture lighting fixtures by installing lighting control systems. Lighting control can be placed completely in the hands of the end user and combined with other light sources in the building to create scenes and added convenience. ILD represents a number of home automation control manufacturers whose advanced, whole house lighting control technologies will allow you to set any light level you wish for both groups of lights and individual lights. This creates a multiplicity of luminance layers and effects.
Both specification grade art lighting fixtures and advanced technical services are much more affordable when managed under an interior lighting maintenance service agreement. Both curators and private art collectors can depend on receiving all of the above benefits more consistently and at better labor rates with a marginal investment in consistent, periodic visits by an Illuminations art lighting designer.
ILD is a premier fine art lighting company in Houston Texas. We have worked for and lighted some of the world’s most prestigious public and private art collections including works from renowned artists such as Chagall, Picasso, Matisse, Renoir, Rockwell, Salvador Dali and Rembrandt. By calling upon the most innovative artwork lighting techniques in the world, you can rest assured that your treasured pieces will shine as brightly as the artist’s true vision. Visit our testimonials page for customer feedback.
Simply stated, our staff is Illuminations Lighting Design's greatest asset. We are fortunate as an electrical contractor to have built such a highly skilled workforce of craftsmen and mechanics who enjoy what they do. Working with integrity and efficiency, they will treat your home with respect while ensuring the job gets done right. Their pride, persistence, quality and determination are the hallmark of Illuminations Lighting Design's tradition.
We are located in Houston Texas but provide lighting and lighting design in Austin TX, El Paso Texas, San Antonio TX, College Station Texas, Beaumont TX, Dallas Texas, Midland Tx and points beyond.
You can reach us toll free at 800-863-1184 or locally at 713-863-1133. Labels: Art Lighting Consultants, Artwork Lighting Experts, Custom Art Lights, Fine Art Lighting Equipment, Houston Electrical Contractors, Phantom Contour Projectors
Lighting for paintings is best accomplished using commercial grade equipment engineered just for the purpose of illuminating galleries and private collections. Retail fixtures, even if labeled as art lighting fixtures, typically feature shorter lamp life, less adjustability, and less advanced optics. Specification grade fixtures have consistently been shown to offer much better results when lighting art, and they save the collector money with more energy efficiency and minimized replacements.
With few exceptions, recessed low voltage lighting fixtures are the best luminaires for lighting art. This is because they tend to produce considerably less heat than high voltage equivalents and consequently save money on cooling costs. They are also safer for the artwork itself, some of which can be damaged very easily if overheated.
In fact, much of this heat is invisible, falling in the infrared portion of the spectrum. Though unseen, it can still damage painting by dehydrating oils. Ultraviolet light does this on an even more severe level, and it can damage the canvas itself. To protect color and canvas integrity, recessed art lighting fixtures are engineered with technology that block these wavelengths and allows only visible light to reach the art.
Within these simple guidelines, then—low-voltage, specification grade quality, and filtered lamps—there remains a huge realm of choice available to the collector in terms of fixture intensity, type, positioning, and end user adjustability. So many options exist, in fact, that lighting art has now become a form of design unto itself. Lighting control technology adds even more value to this aesthetic by placing a great deal of adjustability control directly into the hands of the collector or curator. Dimmers, wall boxes, and hand-held remotes allow the private individual to fine tune modern art lighting levels both on a system wide and individual fixture level.
This allows you to set different levels lighting and to layer them one on top of the other. Such layering places a special emphasis on any collection, making it appear almost removed from time and space. To achieve this multidimensional effect, of course, we have to install more than just one type of art light to accomplish our goals. A myriad of architectural custom lighting luminaires dedicated exclusively to the task of lighting art and statuary exists that we can use to build a custom lighting array for any private or professional collection.
Framing projectors are the most unique and fascinating type of art lighting device invented to date in residential art design. The most notable brands will project an invisible beam of light onto a canvas or sculpture that will then suddenly transfigure the piece as if from within. While you cannot light an entire gallery with projectors they are nonetheless essential keys to creating the most splendid effects and showcasing the most important works.
Other art and house lighting fixtures like recessed low voltage halogens, slotted apertures, pinhole lights, and eyeball lights are all basically circles in the ceiling that create variable effects based on aperture shape and size, angle of incidence, and mounted positioning. Art collections look best when illuminated by an customized array of several different fixture types installed specifically for a particular collection or type of collection.
To achieve this blend of feeling and hard science, we recommend you call us and let us help you create such a system for lighting your art and show you how to plan lighting. Both as a design-build company can both plan and install the equipment, and as a art lighting consultant with a preferred electrical installation vendor, we have delivered consistent value to art collectors and galleries throughout the nation since 1980.
ILD is a premier fine art lighting company in Texas. We have worked for and lighted some of the world’s most prestigious public and private art collections including works from renowned artists such as Chagall, Picasso, Matisse, Renoir, Rockwell, Salvador Dali and Rembrandt. By calling upon the most innovative artwork lighting techniques in the world, you can rest assured that your treasured pieces will shine as brightly as the artist’s true vision. Visit our testimonials page for customer feedback.
Simply stated, our staff is Illuminations Lighting Design's greatest asset. We are fortunate as an electrical contractor to have built such a highly skilled workforce of craftsmen and mechanics who enjoy what they do. Working with integrity and efficiency, they will treat your home with respect while ensuring the job gets done right. Their pride, persistence, quality and determination are the hallmark of Illuminations Lighting Design's tradition.
We are located in Houston Texas but provide lighting and lighting design in Austin TX, El Paso Texas, San Antonio TX, College Station Texas, Beaumont TX, Dallas Texas, Midland Tx and points beyond. Labels: Architectural Lighting Houston, Art Lighting Consultants, Artwork Lighting Experts, Fine Art Lighting Consultants, Projector Art Lighting Equipment, Texas Art Lighting Specialist
Art gallery lighting should be low voltage when at all possible. Low voltage recessed art light fixtures use less power than high voltage equivalents and can save a gallery a small fortune in power costs. Low voltage fixtures exist in many forms, giving the curator a complete freedom of choice in selecting what will work best for particular showings and art types. Low voltage framing projectors, recessed ceiling lights, track lights, pinhole lights, and eyeball lights are becoming increasingly common for corporate art consultants, interior designers and architects.
It is also very important that the equipment feature commercial, specification grade quality. In most instances, such equipment can only be sourced through a professional art lighting firm such as ILD. General specification equipment, which many freelance electricians or end users can buy through retail channels, is less reliable and often features a shorter lamp life which will compound replacement costs. Commercial grade lamps are far more likely to fulfill their predicted lifespan and typically have a much better manufacturer warranty in the unlikely event they do not.
Something else that curators should always be mindful of is the amount of heat produced in art gallery lighting. Without an initial investment in the very best equipment, it is unlikely that less expensive fixtures are going to satisfactorily perform in a high-end setting. This goes back to what we just discussed in reference to commercial grade quality and how you plan lighting. The more reputable and established lighting manufacturers are making it a priority to engineer equipment with technology that dissipates as much forward throw heat as possible. Not only does this better protect rare art against damage; it also helps keep the building cooler and contributes to lower HVAC operating costs.
Along similar lines, lighting for paintings should also be manufactured with advanced filtration mechanisms that block ultraviolet and infrared radiation. These are two very dangerous wavelengths of light that no gallery can afford to allow near any painting—especially historical or rare pieces. Canvases will dry and colors will fade in a relatively short period of time unless UV and IR radiation are blocked completely. In order to accomplish this, fixtures must be manufactured with reliable filtration mechanisms that block these frequencies and ensure that only visible wavelengths reach the canvas.
All this being said, we have to also take into consideration most art galleries are lighting a wide variety of painting sizes, photography, and sculpture. Any given showing will more than likely group various pieces according to artist, historical period, culture, or genre, but beyond this, there is a great diversity in individual works. Sometimes more eclectic showings will feature a mixture of art types that bring even more diversity and subjectivity to the display and interior lighting design. Gallery lighting in either instance must consist of a diversity of fixture types, luminance intensity, and fixture mount positioning in order to appropriately illuminate both individual works and provide enough general lighting in the room for viewer comfort.
If you are interested in a fine art lighting system or art gallery lighting, we invite you contact us at 713-863-1133 or us our online request design consultation form.
Since 1980, Illuminations Lighting Deign has grown to include a team of over 50 talented and dedicated employees. Specialty divisions have been created to focus on such disciplines as lighting design, electrical contracting, landscape lighting and home automation. Having specialists in each of these disciplines, while remaining true to the mission of offering home owners the "complete picture" of lighting design, is key to continued success at Illuminations Lighting.
We are located in Houston Texas but provide lighting and house lighting plans in Austin TX, El Paso Texas, San Antonio TX, College Station Texas, Beaumont TX, Dallas Texas, Midland Tx and points beyond.
Labels: Architectural Lighting Houston Texas, Art Gallery Lighting, Fine Art Lighting Consultants, Houston Fine Art Lighting Experts
