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Self-guiding in the Galleries
Pre-During-Post Visit Resources
Presence of Light
July 2 - October 31, 2004

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During Your Visit
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Important Terms and Concepts
Activities to Do at School or at Home
Suggested Print and Web Resources

Before and After Your Visit

Young Explorer's Guide for Families and Elementary School Groups
Gallery Guide for Middle School and High School Groups

You may wish to familiarize students with these terms before your visit.

Terms: Elementary Grades
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• Contemporary art
  art that is being made now or was made very recently.
• Lens
  a curved piece of glass, plastic or other transparent (clear) material that refracts light rays, making them get closer together or farther apart.
• Magnify
  to make something larger or make it appear to be larger.
• Neon
  a gas that is colorless but glows reddish orange when in contact with Electricity. It is used in display and television tubes. Neon is used as a generic term for this type of light, even though different colors are produced by different gases.
• Reflect
  to bend light so that, when it hits a surface, it is thrown back off of the surface; for example, a mirror reflects light.
• Refract
  to turn or bend a wave, such as a light or sound wave; this occurs as the wave passes from one material into another material with a different density (concentration of mass).
• Trompe l'oeil
  a French term that means to trick the eye; a style of painting that creates a convincing illusion of three-dimensional reality. See Artlex: Trompe l'oeil for more information.
• X-ray
  a type of light that cannot be seen with the human eye alone because of its relatively small wavelength; it is used to create black and white images of the inside of the human body.

Terms: Arts & Humanities: Grades 6 - 12
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• Ambient
  surrounding; encompassing on all sides; applied to fluids or diffusible substances: ambient sound; ambient air.
• Ambivalence
  the simultaneous existence of opposing attitudes or feelings, such as love and hate, toward a person, object, or idea.
• Contingent
  liable to occur but not with certainty; dependent on conditions or occurrences not yet established or uncertain; depending on some possible future event.
• Contrived
  obviously planned or calculated; not spontaneous or natural; labored.
• Decipher
  to read or interpret (ambiguous, obscure, or illegible matter); to convert from a code; to discover or explain meaning of something difficult to understand.
• Deem
  to have as an opinion; judge; to regard as; to suppose; to consider.
• Demystified
  to make less mysterious; clarify.
• Ethereal
  characterized by lightness; not of this world; spiritual; of the celestial spheres.
• Immaterial
  inconsequential or irrelevant; having no material body or form.
• Manifestation
  an indication of the existence, reality, or presence of something.
• Materiality
  the state or quality of being matter; physical substance.
• Serenity
  the state or quality of being quiet, calmness of mind; evenness of temper.
• Tactile
  perceptible to the sense of touch; tangible.
• Tangible
  discernible by the touch; possible to be treated as fact; real or concrete.
• Tracery
  ornamental work of interlaced and branching lines, especially the lacy openwork in a Gothic window.
• Transcend
  to pass beyond the limits of; to be greater than, as in intensity or power; to surpass: love that transcends infatuation; to exist above and independent of.
• Translucent
  transmitting light but causing sufficient diffusion to prevent perception of distinct images.

Terms: Science & Technology: Grades 6 - 12
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• Bioluminescence
  light produced through a chemical reaction inside a living organism; fireflies and various fish, fungi and bacteria are bioluminescent.
• Camera obscura
  An early form of camera in which an external image is received into a chamber and reflected on a plane surface, usually for the purpose of drawing.
• C-Print
  a color print in which the paper (or other print material) has at least three emulsion layers of light-sensitive silver salts. Each layer is sensitized to a different color - either red, blue or green - with each one recording different information about the image's color content. The most common type of color photographic print.
• Neon
  a rare, inert gas that is colorless but glows reddish orange in an electric Discharge, and is used in display and television tubes.Neon is used as a generic term for this type of light, even though different colors are produced by different gases. Electrodeless neon technology makes neon glow without use of an electrode (a solid electric conductor through which an electric current travels).
• Phosphor
  a substance that can accept energy in one form, like a high-speed electron, and then emits it in the form of visible light.
• Polyethylene
  a type of plastic, often used in kitchenware, containers, and tubing.
• Pinhole camera
  an extremely simple camera consisting of a closed container which holds the film and a very small hole without a lens that serves as the aperture to let in the light that exposes the film.
• Protozoan
  any of a large group of single-celled, usually microscopic, eukaryotic (having membranes around cell nuclei) organisms.

Activities: Elementary Grades
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Ring Around a Rainbow
A student-centered, hands-on activity exploring rainbows and the visible light spectrum. If this activity is done after a visit to Presence of Light, it could easily be extended to make a connection with Simon Lee's "Unflooded." Click here for complete directions.

Kaleidescopic Capers
Students create their own kaleidoscopes and explore the phenomena of reflection and symmetry. Click here for complete directions.

Create a Phenakistoscope
To make your own phenakistoscope (fen-uh-kiss-tuh-scope), take two blank index cards and draw one image on the front and one on the back. For example, draw a fish in the middle of one side and a fishbowl in the middle of the other. Then tape them back-to-back onto the end of a pencil. Hold the pencil between the palms of your hands, roll the pencil back and forth, and watch the two images combine into one. This simple toy works on the same principal as Gregory Barsamian's piece "No Never Alone."

Activities: Grades 6 - 12
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Art: Create Your Own Presence of Light
Provide some or all of the following materials to the class and challenge groups of students to work together to create their own artwork out of light and to give it a title: paper of different colors, textures, and transparency levels; scissors; flashlights; colored cellophane; concave and convex lenses; transparent bowls or beakers of water; food coloring; laser pointers; mirrors; uv lights; and/or glow-in-the-dark paper.

Language Arts: Found Poem
Ask students to freewrite for 2 minutes. Rather than writing complete sentences or thoughts, ask them to make a list of every word that comes to mind associated with the subject of light. Then collect all of the freewrites and hand them out randomly to the class. The challenge is to create a found poem, using ten or more of the words in the freewrite they receive, and using only those words.

Language Arts/ Interdisciplinary: Thirteen Ways of Looking at Light
Read Wallace Stevens' poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" and discuss with students the different ways in which each stanza approaches the subject. Then ask students to write their own poem about light, with thirteen short stanzas, each one taking a different perspective. How many different ways can we think about light? (ie., from a physics standpoint of photons and waves, as plants that carry on photosynthesis, as sunbathers, from a technological standpoint, or even imagining that we are light itself).

Science & Technology: Classroom Obscura
A dramatic way to introduce the idea of pinhole photography or the history of photography is to turn a small classroom or closet into a camera obscura! You'll need a small room, which should be darkened as completely as possible. Then let exterior light shine in through a pinhole punched in black paper or plastic. The exterior light will appear as an inverted image on the opposite wall. The photographers at Bright Bytes Studios have created a terrific set of web pages , where you can learn more about the camera obscura and the history of photography; it includes images of camera obscuras, a bibliography, web links, and a frequently asked question section. Artlex is also a good resource for information on the pinhole cameras, camera obscuras, and the history of photography.

Resources: Elementary Grades
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Print and Web Materials for Elementary Students

Asch, Frank. Moonbear's Shadow. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1999. An amusing illustrated story about a bear who grapples with the concept of shadows. Good for younger elementary students.

Burnie, David. Light (Eyewitness Books). DK Publishing, 1999. Discover how light rays bend, what creates a color television picture, why we get sunburns, and how some animals can make their own light. Learn about fiber optics, mirrors, holograms, X-rays, polarizing filters, microscopes, telescopes, and mirages. Good for older elementary students.

Hawes, Judy. Fireflies in the Night. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1963 (1999 Revised Edition). An illustrated story book about a young girl and her grandparents, and their experiences with lightning bugs. It includes interesting scientific information and is a great introduction to bioluminescence for young elementary students.

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Select the link on the home page for MoMA's pages for kids. Embark on an interactive and intergalactic journey; explore the world of Modern Art and find out about MoMA.

Print and Web Materials for Elementary Educators

Artlex: Trompe L'oeil
The entire Artlex site is well worth visiting, whether your search for a specific term, or explore their index. In addition to definitions, it provides a wealth of images and web links for a great number of art terms.

Fiarotta, Phyllis and Noel. Great Experiments with Light. Sterling Publishing, 1999. See the light - with experiments that show how light casts shadows, bends, refracts and more. Make sun prints, shadow puppets, silhouettes, a mirrored kaleidoscope, and a periscope.

Lauw, Darlene. Science Alive! Light. New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2002. Clear explanations and hands-on activities covering such light-related topics as reflection, refraction, prisms, kaleidoscopes, periscopes, pinhole cameras, and rainbows.

Levine, Shar and Leslie Johnstone. The Optics Book: Fun Experiments with Light, Vision, & Color. 1999. These delightful hands-on experiments vividly demonstrate the workings of absorption, reflection, refraction, and more. Along with a materials list, the book includes safety instructions and explanations of the scientific principles underlying each experiment.

Rodger, Elaine (Editor). Arty Facts, Light, Color & Art Activities. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2002. Fun art activities inspired by various light-related technologies and phenomena like fireworks, pixels, neon lights, sundials, film, crystals, skylights, and more.

Resources: Grades 6 - 12
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Print and Web Materials for Grade 6 - 12 Students

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Find out about the Museum of Modern Art, its special exhibits and projects, and view art from its permanent collection including architectural design, drawings, paintings, sculpture, photographs, film media, prints and more. The home page has a link to Red Studio, MoMA's terrific site for teens, which includes high school students interviewing contemporary artist Vito Acconci, as well as an interactive design activity.

Museum of Neon Art (MoNA)
Situated in Los Angeles, CA, MoNA was founded in 1981 and is the only permanent institution dedicated to the exhibition and preservation of contemporary fine art in electric media. The site includes images of the work of over 45 contemporary artists working in neon and other electric light media.

Sculptor Mary Voytek's Web Site
The artist's website, featuring many images of her work and an artist's statement.

Smack Mellon
Smack Mellon is a contemporary art gallery, set in New York City's DUMBO neighborhood, dedicated to supporting emerging, under-recognized mid-career and women artists in the creation and exhibition of new work. The site includes images of works in past exhibitions. Smack Mellon's Executive Director, Kathleen Gilrain, was guest curator of Presence of Light.

Print and Web Materials for Grade 6 - 12 Educators

Artlex
An online art lexicon. The entire Artlex site is well worth visiting, whether your search for a specific term, or explore their index. In addition to definitions, it provides a wealth of images and web links for a great number of art terms.

Eisenhower National Clearing House (ENC): Neon Lights, Grades 7 - 12
A wealth of well-organized references and links for information, activities, and connections to standards. The ENC is located at Ohio State University and is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Scientific American: Ask the Experts: How do neon lights work?
Eric Schiff, chair of the department of physics at Syracuse University, explains how neon lights work (not for the physics novice).

Young Explorer's Guide for Families and Elementary School Groups.

Gallery Guide for Middle School and High School Groups.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent Federal grant- making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities supports the Berkshire Museum.

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