Feb 01

#BlackHistoryMonth

#BlackHistoryMonth begins today. (no “pausing”)
You can follow our month-long tribute at:
www.facebook.com/lumonics
 

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6 from Langston Hughes, born on this day in 1902
(Feb 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967)
 
1.
“I swear to The Lord, I still can’t see, why democracy means, everybody but me.”
“The Black Man Speaks,” from Jim Crow’s Last Stand (1943)
 
2.
I play it cool
And dig all jive.
That’s the reason
I stay alive.
My motto,
As I live and learn,
is:
Dig And Be Dug
In Return.
From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
 
3.
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
“I, Too, Sing America”
 
4.
America –
Hoping, praying
Fighting, dreaming.
Knowing
There are stains
On the beauty of my democracy,
I want to be clean.
 
5.
I am so tired of waiting,
Aren’t you,
For the world to become good
And beautiful and kind?
 
6.
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun?…
Or does it explode?
 
 
 

Jan 30

Community Announcement

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Community Announcement:

 

“Art should be something that liberates your soul, provokes the imagination, and encourages people to go further.”
– Keith Haring

“Lumonics is such an incredible collection. They are part of the Crown Jewels of Denver.”
– Justin Stucey, Walt Disney Imagineering

It has been 4 1/2 years since the passing of Lumonics co-founder Dorothy Tanner. Dorothy was a role model and inspiration to people of all ages throughout the years as was her late husband Mel who died in 1993.

From a core team of 7 for many years, Marc Billard and I are now carrying on the legacy of Lumonics. It’s an enormous responsibility and there are over 200 light sculptures that we hope one day to have on display. So many have never been seen in Colorado and still in crates since our arrival here in 2008. The Tanners have entrusted us with this remarkable body of light art that we wish to share with the Denver community for generations to come.

After Dorothy’s passing, we decided to build upon the Tanners’ concept of multisensory expression that impacted thousands of people over the years, beginning in Miami in 1969. For many, the experience triggered something from within that made one think that anything is possible. After I experienced it and got to know the Tanners, I offered to volunteer and contribute however I could. Marc and his late wife Barbara who died in 2023 felt the same way.

Here we are 50+ years later. We are presenting the most up-to-date form of the Lumonics multi-sensory expression. Our intention is to expand the boundaries of sensory engagement and artistic expression, encouage people to go further, and honor the Tanners’ contribution to light art and the immersive experience.

Marc worked very closely with the Tanners in presenting the multimedia performances, and after Mel died, Marc collaborated with Dorothy on music and video when she was in her 70s and 80s which we use today. With their inspiration, Marc continues to create new music visuals. How he orchestrates the experience is such a treat. Much of the source material is from hand-painted slides and from rides in the mountains which I think of as “alchemized road trips”. You might even see something that resembles a tree!

To keep this project going so that it can continue to impact people, Marc and I can’t do this alone. We need help from the community, and one way to do that is to come to our events to show support. We want to share with you what we have accomplished so far, and truly hope you will be inspired.

We present Lumonics Immersed on Saturdays. Hope to see you, and thank you for your support!

www.lumonics.net/immersed

www.lumonics.net/legacy 

 

Barry Raphael / Marc Billard

 
 

 

 
 
 

Jan 21

From the Lumonics Archives, 2020: Lumonics Mind Spa at Understudy

From the Lumonics Archives,  2020:
(thanks to Annie Geimer and Thadeous Mighell of Understudy)
 
In appreciation of art writer Mary Grace Bernard for her article in DARIA about the Lumonics Mind Spa exhibit at #UnderstudyGallery.
 
Mel Tanner, Paradigm, 1975, Plexiglas and LED lights. Image courtesy of Third Dune Productions.
 
excerpt:
Lumonics Mind Spa: Light Intersection is bringing much-needed color and light to downtown Denver. The exhibition presents works by Dorothy Tanner (1923-2020) and Mel Tanner (1925-1993)—an artist couple who dedicated their life and art practice to the immersive experiences of visual art and to promoting the importance of physical, emotional, and spiritual awareness.
 
While Lumonics Mind Spa has been on view in other art spaces around Denver (including a 2018 exhibition at the McNichols Civic Center Building), the show’s current iteration at Understudy forges an atmosphere not seen elsewhere. [1] The luminous Plexiglas sculptures interact and intersect with Understudy’s “fishbowl” viewing experience as light reflections from pedestrians and vehicles go by. These outside elements add a fourth dimension to the artworks and space, creating a completely new form of looking.
 
 
 

Jan 14

Dorothy Tanner (from the archives)

From the Lumonics Archives (2017) thanks to Denver Westword

“Hip couple Dorothy and Mel Tanner began exploring Plexiglas light sculpture back in the ’60s, inventing their own avant-garde genre while freely experimenting with what’s come to be known as “new media” on the modern front: refracted light, projections, music and electronic enhancements. Mel passed away in 1993, but Dorothy, now in her nineties and still resiliently creative, remarkably continues those experiments begun decades ago at her Lumonics studio and gallery in metro Denver.”

*photo of Dorothy Tanner (1923-2020) by Candace Anne Hill