(gentle music) - See how artist Yael Erel uses light as a medium in her work.

And catch a performance from Reese Fulmer & The Carriage House Band.

It's all ahead on this episode of "AHA."

- [Narrator] Funding for "AHA" has been provided by your contribution and by contributions to the WMHT Venture Fund.

Contributors include: the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, Chet and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi, and The Robison Family Foundation.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Matt Rogowicz, and this is "AHA," "A House for Arts," a place for all things creative.

Yael Erel is an architect, educator, and light artist who teaches at RPI.

In this short film by Chalkley Calderwood, we learn about Yael's process as she prepared for a show in London.

- [Yael] I love light.

It is unpredictable, it is temporal, it constantly changes.

I've always been drawn to mainly spatial moments in which you could immerse within the light.

It's an elusive material because it's energy and it's physical, you don't see it unless it's interacting with something else.

A surface, could be architecture, it could be a screen, but otherwise it's invisible.

When you work with light as a medium, it's between mediums, it's between sculpture and film and architecture and drawing.

It's all of them.

Our naked eye does not see the details and the intricacies that the light shows us.

So there is a mystery built into the process and the viewer sees both realities at the same time.

And so that gap between what I see and what I see, that is what I think magic is.

- It's a material that's magical to work with because you can shape it and you can build something with it, but that thing is femoral and it goes away.

- [Yael] The system works so that when you shine a light onto a reflector, that reflector would reflect a light scape.

If you place a second reflector within that light scape, that light scape becomes the light source and that the second reflection combines qualities from both reflectors.

I've been working with reflectors that relate to the human body.

We think of our bodies in many ways through imagery and imaging, also as light density.

How interesting would it be to think of the subject matter as these almost living entities that are somewhat between the two worlds?

When the human interacts with this immersive space, their face becomes a screen and they cast their shadow, they enter the system and engage it with their own corporeal presence.

When we build these intentional reflectors, we first design them in CAD on the computer and then we translate them into Toolpath that the robot embosses.

The tool and the robot is about to emboss into the metal, creating a topography.

That topography is gonna in turn reflect a light drawing.

We use a light in order to understand how deep did we go in terms of effect.

So it's a back and forth conversation between human and machine.

There is a dialogue.

- [Avner] In working with Yael on this light artwork, I like to think of the reflectors as personalities 'cause each reflector has its own bumps and dents.

And the light that shines on all these reflectors is the same, but each one produces a totally different light drawing.

- [Yael] This is a sketch for an upcoming show in London using both light scapes and live reflections.

And we're trying to anticipate where the reflectors are gonna be and how they will be touched by the lighting.

I've been working on combining large scale immersive projections with the direct physical phenomena of reflection.

It was important to me that the viewers have tools to break down what's actually happening.

So something as simple as a line, how does it map the section it's lighting in reflection?

And then as that reflection grows into the full scale of the reflector, what do we see?

And so there is a desire for the viewer to be able to understand this rationally, that this is not just beautiful, but it's a technical operation that is happening naturally, but that our minds can grasp.

(theatrical music) When I first started working with this material, it was a little bit overwhelming.

As a system, there's so many variables.

Everything can change.

Some of these changes I've fully engaged, some of them I haven't gotten to yet.

- Yael drives this project and she's taking this technique of drawing with reflectors and drawing with light to conquer new frontiers in art is just something that I think was never done before in this amount of detail and persistence and depth.

- [Yael] Creating light art as an architect is amazing, but it's also so ephemeral.

Once you turn the lights on, it's gone.

- Jade Warwick recently had the chance to speak with Yael about her work in more detail.

Take a look at this illuminating discussion.

- Welcome to "A House for Arts" today, Yael, I'm super excited to have you here.

- I'm super excited to be here.

Thank you for having me.

- Thank you.

Let's talk all things light.

I know you are an artist that thrives within the creativity of light, and that's, like, I think your main medium.

Tell us what drew you to light and using it as an art medium for you.

- So I'm also an architect, and light has a critical role in architecture.

So it always played a big role in my projects.

But on a personal front, when getting together with my partner in life, Avner BenNatan, we met, he was a gaffer in film and television.

And at that point I thought we will never work together because our fields are so separate.

But then we started designing lamps for our house and we were so excited about them that we patented a lamp, we then started a business, light texture, where we make light fixtures and installations.

And through this shared work, my practice started focusing on light.

Then I went to study light at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI, in Troy.

- Nice.

- And yeah.

And I studied light as a material.

So that's kind of- I'm now in the thick of it.

- And what about, like, studying light and working within it makes you giddy and gives you that, like, warm artistic feeling inside?

- Light is something ephemeral and temporary and surprising in a way.

It changes all the time.

Like, every light that we know is connected to a source that is temporary.

You can think of electricity or you can think of the sun.

So whether it's electricity that constantly has a flow of something and now we have projectors so we have constantly new information and it's energy and its material together.

- Yeah.

- And there's something really magical about it.

And since it's so temporary, it's very playful and it impacts your whole experience of a space.

You kind of see a white room and then it's lit in a specific way and it's totally different.

- Yeah.

- And so there's something kind of shocking about that.

It's exciting.

Sometimes I could get anxious, but it's really, really exciting to work with.

- And it exists everywhere around us 24/7.

- Yes.

And it allows us to see the world.

So light is actually our main way of seeing reality.

- Yeah.

- So our visual world exists because we see it through light.

We actually never see objects.

So you can learn about your reality when you adjust things in light.

- I love how you put that.

So I know you do a lot with, like, film, art, sculptures, architecture.

How does light connect all these worlds together for you?

- Like, I think as you saw in the film, the way I work with light is a systematic way.

And so then all of these different components or mediums become part of the system.

Film could become part of how we look at the light source itself.

So we can have a moving light source that then changes the projection that happens.

We create reflectors that change from, like, a perfect mirror to we add bumps and dents and things like that.

And then that becomes a moment of sculpture and how we kind of design or craft how the light is gonna be shaped.

So in a way, all of these mediums for me, they all exist within the work, so it's a truly interdisciplinary practice.

- I loved how you, when I saw the film, you were, like, using this machine and you're making all the bumps and all the things and like how- 'Cause the reflectors are basically these, like, metal objects.

Correct?

That you reflect the light off of, would you say?

- Yeah.

So if you kind of imagine, like, a plain mirror, like a perfect mirror, it would give you a very solid reflection, like a square rectangle of light.

And then if you make a little dent, even the tiny, tiny, tiniest thing, you're gonna see it in the light really clearly.

And so if you start making more dents and bends and you start sculpting not only the reflector, so of course you're sculpting that surface, but you're also sculpting the light.

- Yeah, that sounds so beautiful.

And it looks beautiful.

I kind of wanna just dance in it a little bit.

You know?

- It's interesting 'cause you project yourself into that as a spatial condition, so you almost forget that it's almost flat, but it's a world and it's a world that kind of draws you in.

- And I know your viewers of your work kind of become part of it.

You know, they're like shadows or movement within it.

Why is that so important to your work?

- I want the viewers to find themselves in the work.

So it could be through looking at the patterns, like what we just said, like, you know, kind of losing yourself within this imagined space, really.

But we sometimes have movements within the reflectors.

So we could rotate the reflectors or we could have little air movements that would change a reflector.

And then it's kind of like looking at a flame or at the seaside looking at the waves crash.

It's like a kind of- You lean in and you enter this in a meditative space that I think is really nice for the viewer to be in.

And I think it helps us be both concentrated in ourselves and in something else.

And I also think that when you're in an experience, it goes deeper.

You become part of it, and there's joy in being part of the art.

- Would you say that's something you hope that stays with your viewers after they experience one of your exhibitions?

- Yes.

I know that there are works of art that I leave that I'm a little bit changed.

Robert Irwin said that he wants his viewers to expand the way that they perceive the world.

And I think I totally agree with him.

So that's the art that talks best to me.

And I would love my viewers to both leave with a sense of joy, but also with some kind of understanding about the physical environment around us and maybe understanding the potential of tiny little imperfect things to become a whole world that could contain magic and mystery.

- Yeah, I love that.

That's so beautifully put.

Well, thank you for joining us today, Yael.

I appreciate you and I appreciate your work.

- Thank you so much, Jane.

- Please welcome Reese Fulmer & The Carriage House Band.

(folk music) ♪ 3:00 AM I'm lying on the coast land ♪ ♪ Watching all the dragons in the night sky ♪ ♪ Sometimes I'm alive at just the right time ♪ ♪ Always hearing music on the grapevine ♪ ♪ Stuck on what I know is always unfair ♪ ♪ Maybe I can do it all again ♪ ♪ Sleep is just a different kind of peace of mind ♪ ♪ Guess I'm back to thinking that again ♪ ♪ At 3:00 AM I'm high and eating ice cream ♪ ♪ Watching my reflection on small a small screen ♪ ♪ Sometimes I'm awake from all the bad dreams ♪ ♪ Always getting older at the same speed ♪ ♪ Stuck on methamphetamine ♪ ♪ Maybe I can do it all again ♪ ♪ Sleep is gonna bring me all my self-esteem ♪ ♪ Guess I'm back to thinking that again ♪ ♪ I lay my body down ♪ ♪ I lay my body down ♪ ♪ 3:00 AM is moving like a freight train ♪ ♪ Watching yellow street lights ♪ ♪ In the (indistinct) ♪ ♪ Sometimes it's the right way ♪ ♪ But the wrong green ♪ ♪ Always finding moments in the last dream ♪ ♪ Stuck on what I know is always unfair ♪ ♪ Maybe I can do it all again ♪ ♪ Death is just a different kind of peace of mind ♪ ♪ Guess I'm back to thinking that again ♪ ♪ Death is just a different kind of peace of mind ♪ ♪ Guess I'm back to thinking that again ♪ ♪ I lay my body down ♪ ♪ I lay my body down ♪ ♪ I lay my body down ♪ ♪ I lay my body down ♪ (melancholic music) ♪ Such a strange thing ♪ ♪ A bird on a street ♪ ♪ A curtain to cover the moon ♪ ♪ Supposing the dirt on my chin ♪ ♪ I left the forest for you ♪ ♪ A cold rain ♪ ♪ A drop on the frame ♪ ♪ That won't change the shape I'm in ♪ ♪ It takes a long time ♪ ♪ Blood on the line ♪ ♪ I pull you from under my skin ♪ ♪ And I ♪ ♪ Followed you everywhere ♪ ♪ I ♪ ♪ Thought that I'd find you there ♪ ♪ And I ♪ ♪ Swear I have nothing left ♪ ♪ I'd carry the moon ♪ ♪ Patience ♪ ♪ Tired of my sins ♪ ♪ Sways like the sun on the sea ♪ ♪ A full light, gold in the mines ♪ ♪ I love you endlessly ♪ ♪ And I ♪ ♪ Know that I let you down ♪ ♪ And I ♪ ♪ I showed you my favorite songs ♪ ♪ And I ♪ ♪ I found what I'm looking for ♪ ♪ It fell down the hill ♪ ♪ Such a strange thing ♪ ♪ The city in spring ♪ ♪ But I have not seen it in bloom ♪ ♪ When the crows find ♪ ♪ What's left of my eyes ♪ ♪ They'll be stealing a picture of you ♪ - [Matt] Tune in next Wednesday at 7:30 PM for the broadcast premier of "The Music Hall: Troy New York's Monument to Sound."

(classical music) - [Speaker 1] This bank built this building and then they insisted on making most of it a concert hall is an incredible idea.

- [Speaker 2] I love the thought that Rachmaninoff was here, and Horowitz, Toscanini, all that, but especially Rachmaninoff somehow, 'cause I love his music.

- [Speaker 3] The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is one of the most acoustically perfect music halls in the world.

- [Speaker 4] Exactly that space or that volume is just about right.

And that is amazing.

- [Speaker 5] Renaissance 150 celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Troy Savings Bank building.

As a part of that, we've engaged in this massive capital project, which is transformational for our organization.

(classical music) - Thanks for joining us.

For more art, visit WMHT.ORG/AHA and be sure to connect with us on social.

I'm Matt Rogowicz.

Thanks for watching.

(dramatic music) - [Narrator] Funding for "AHA" has been provided by your contribution and by contributions to the WMHT Venture Fund.

Contributors include: the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, Chet and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi, and The Robison Family Foundation.