LIGHTEATER, a metaphysical exploration of light featuring neon bender Thomas Wendler and the thoughts of light artist James Turrell. This is a personal project born out of my mild obsession for neon – the 5th most abundant gas in the universe. An element created in stars. An inert gas that when electrified reveals itself in the form of seemingly physical light.
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All neon lamps are handmade. It’s a special craft that involves heating and blowing glass into shape – the instrument, or vessel, is then filled with the appropriate noble gas (neon, xenon, argon, etc.). The trapped gas is then electrified — With this film I wanted to get as close as possible to the process and show it in an abstracted way, building a bridge to James Turrell’s expressions on light- from the physics of it to the mystics of it.

Archive footage courtesy of NASA & Prelinger Archives.
Thanks to Thomas Wendler, Vara Kane, Sigi Gugger, Ute Michaelsen, Norma Archer, Chad Weuve.
This film is not for profit. I do not own the rights to the voice of James Turrell. The voice is an excerpt from the 2013 interview on the Charlie Rose show. Those interested, you can view the show here: charlierose.com/videos/17416