Light Observation 10
Date.Time.Location- 4/18/19. 10:00PM. Inside of the I NEED MORE punk rock store in Manhattan.
Objective Description- I ventured into the east village in manhattan this night to pay a visit to a long time friend and former employer at the Orchard street punk rock emporium called I NEED MORE which is named after the Iggy Pop song. Stepping into the store, one notices that the main sources of light in the building are 80’s style neon lights that envelop the store in a distinctive pink hue.
Subjective Description- If there was one time period that I wish I would’ve been born into, there is no question that it would’ve been the 1980’s. Everything from the styles of clothing to the colors to the music to just everything about the 80’s seemed absolutely wild and free. This store functions for me quite in the same fashion as a time machine as the neon lights together with the leopard and zebra print rugs, the smell of leather, the pink wall paper, the Doc Marten boots, and the sewed up and pinned up denim allow me to catch a glimpse of what walking into the 80’s may have felt like. These lights in particular I believe are the most effective element here however, as they completely consume the entirety of the store and serve to shut out the outside world of the 2010’s and create a sort of bubble, a sort of alternate world within this tiny shop where the colors were brighter, the clothing was wilder, and the times were much more peaceful. Moments such as this serve to remind me of not only the importance of lighting in creating a particular atmosphere, but also of just how important it is to attain a proper combination of lighting, scenic, and sound design (you got to love Iggy Pop!) for the purposes of bringing a design concept to life or, in this case, provide people with a window through which they can look back to a time that served to introduce styles and ideas that changed the world forever!