"The light was what it was all about:
I would not go in till the light went out;
It would not go out till I came in.."
Robert Frost

Shedding Light on the PAC

Sandra Lakeman brings her 'Natural Light and the Italian Piazza' to San Luis Obispo
August 5, 2004 - New Times SLO, Arts Section

Siena, Italy, and more specifically, the Piazza del Campo, is a very special place for Cal Poly professor of architecture Sandra Lakeman.

"I was there for the first time in 1966 and I simply never forgot it. It's organic. It's not classical or formal. It answers so many of our human needs, and the people have adapted it to do that very well."

A piazza is an Italian public square, and in the case of the Piazza del Campo is used as a case study by Lakeman to explore theories on light. In 1983, Lakeman began documenting the behavior of light in Siena's Piazza del Campo as well as in neighboring areas. Lakeman's photos have been able to capture light as a major subject that uses architecture and nature as a canvas for light to create.

The Performing Arts Center (PAC) at Cal Poly was the perfect site for Lakeman, one of the first tenured female faculty members, to install her show, "Natural Light and the Italian Piazza." The show, with over 160 photographs, premiered in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico, the town hall, in 1992. It was also displayed in Pioneer Place and the American Institute of Architecture, both in Portland, Ore. The photographs gently portray the many facets of light and the way it changes the Piazza as well as the, landscape.

The installation occupies four floors at the PAC and guests can enjoy the photos and learn about different ways in which to study light. Lakeman explained the division of the different photos throughout the building.

"I tried to characterize light and group it. I've taught natural light courses. I want to teach students in different ways because some people are visual learners and other students like to have characterizations of light, such as reflections, diffusions, directions, up lighting, down lighting, side lighting, front lighting, direct, indirect, etcetera."

Sandra Lakeman's photographs are encased in plexiglass and suspended from aluminum tubing structures with stainless-steel string. The installation is quite innovative and fits perfectly with the industrial flair of the PAC. One contemplates their own relationship with light, and Lakeman puts it nicely: "We are not aware of light. We simply take it for granted. I think if you become more aware of it, you end up seeing more."

Arts Editor Brandi Stansbury can be reached at bstansbury@newtimesslo.com.