Boris Tomic is a well established designer for the Charlotte Area. Although we have had a loose working relationship for nearly 3 years, I have hadn't seen the extent of his talent until his art show on November 9th. The show was titled Resonance Featuring works on Canvas and Paper. The event raised money for the Metronlina Aids Project, boasting over 130 of Boris's works.

When ask to light the show, I didn’t hesitate even though I knew there wouldn’t be a budget for lighting reinforcement. The challenge was turning the Forum, a night club, into a gallery without rewiring the building nor renting any fixtures. I refocused track lighting, cable lighting, flood lights, intelligent spot lights, and intelligent CMY washes. Obviously getting even field of lighting throughout the exhibit would be impossible. From color temperature changes to differing beam types, I did everything possible not to get frustrated at the knowingly poor lighting situation ahead of me. Focusing on the principles of lighting and arranging the fixtures in the best configuration possible, I put my head down and advanced forward.

After years of reading, people watching, and observation; I can confirm that nearly everyone looks at the brightest object in the room when first entering. By brightening the focal points in the room, you can control the focus of your audience. In the case of an art show, the art should be brighter than the viewing areas. I barely had enough fixtures to light the art so I had to use the light reflected from artwork for the viewing areas which provided enough light to mill about the exhibit. Even though it was dark, I could get away with low lighting levels since it feels natural in a night club environment.

On one of the paintings I only had 4 narrow MR16 fixtures on a canvas painting about 4’ by 8’. It was impossible to get an even spread, so I used the fixtures to accent the elements on the canvas that intrigued me most. The eye was immediately drawn to the bright areas giving the images greater importance over the darker images. After highlighting those areas, I notice that the image took on new meaning. Lighting controls the focus of an event and should never be taken for granted. The power of focus can make or break an event much like bold print in an article.

The only light fixtures in the dance floor area besides sconces were moving heads. I did not like the high color temperature projecting from the MSD 250/2 lamps in the Elation Power Spots and Washes, because of the contrast with the warmer lighting (lower color temperature- 2700 to 3000 Kelvin) in the lounge area. The CMY washes were easily modified but the Power Spots do not have color correction built into the fixtures. The spots were also a problem because the hard edge was distracting and in order to get enough coverage I had to prism the fixture. Achieving the best possible lighting using the tools provided was my goal, which in this case I had to use the worst possible fixtures to achieve my goal.

Amazingly enough by the end of the night nearly everyone had congratulated me on the amazing transformation of the Forum night club. Boris told me several times how happy he was with the lighting design. Reminding me no one is as critical as I am. After everything is said and done, the best lighting design is using what is available in the most effective way possible. Most viewers will seldom notice temperature changes and incorrect lighting fixtures, but they will continue to look for the brightest object in the room. Finally, I cannot emphasize enough that the most important element of lighting design isn’t the fixture, the location, the temperature, or the color. The most important element of lighting design is focus.