“Light”, an ethereal video short from David Parker, presents a dark new visual context for wasted energy. What if, it supposes, we perceived the amount of energy wasted by leaving lights on around the globe as something more conventionally vile and waste-like? Like, for instance, the gooey, viscous mess that spills forth from oil disasters or toxic containers.
It might look something like this, if it came from streetlights, houselights, perennially-on fluorescents, and so forth. (via Grist):
Light from Sunday Paper on Vimeo.
Here’s how the team of filmmakers explains the thought process behind “Light”:
[The film] initially began as a project intended to bring awareness to energy waste. Bleeding, crying lights were meant to metaphorically parallel the way in which we invisibly squander our natural resources without much thought. While the original sentiment remains, the film also grew into a poetic statement about a world run amok and the human tendency to exploit that which we hold dear.The film was shot over a couple nights in Los Angeles as two friends drove around with a camera exploring the city’s architecture and abandoned landscapes.
I like it. Hydrocarbons (if not oil) are indeed being wasted to keep all that stuff on, and the vast majority of us view gratuitous lighting as a fact of life, not excessive waste. Perhaps Parker’s film here can help rearrange our deeply engrained attitudes a bit …
