Though images from “A Certain Slant of Light,” the exhibition of 100 original lighting designs by Roman and Williams founders Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer, have already swept through social media, there’s more to the experience of light and form than a spectacular Instagram moment. “We knew that we wanted a cavernous and dramatic space that would give our lights room to breathe; that would imbue the space with an ephemeral and poetic quality,” Alesch says of bringing the exhibition to life in the sprawling second floor of the former New York Mercantile Exchange building.
The result is a prodigious show of the duo’s artistry and depth. Not only does the show’s title hint at the majesty within, it nods to the shifting footprint of natural light that reaches across the floor of the installation and mingles with the light from the fixtures. Further, it references the evocative Emily Dickinson poem, “There’s a certain Slant of light,” which delves into the emotional effects of light during winter’s dark days.
Beneath the luminous power—both pragmatic and philosophical—of the pieces is an understanding that light is an experience that evokes sensations. This assessment is true both for attendees and the designers themselves. “Seeing our families of lighting in dialogue with each other—something we’ve only ever seen in our mind’s eye—is profoundly moving,” Standefer tells Surface. “To experience how they change from day to night—from the crisp early morning slant of light to the dusky, late afternoon winter glow, and to see others experience that as well–has been truly remarkable.”
Alesch and Standefer work with the magnitude of the historic space, suspending their light fixtures at various levels to spectacular effect. To achieve the theatrical presentation they desired, they partnered with a rigging crew they’d worked with on a film 20 years ago. This led to the skeletal frame—capable of holding two tons of lighting, cablings, and scaffolding—from which most pieces dangle.
Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer. …
Alesch, who hand-draws each before working with prestigious engineering and artisan partners to prototype at full scale and refine materials, recalls the journey behind their lighting design as intensive and meandering. “Each light is the result of so much work—from artistic development through to the rigorous, technical precision engineering it requires; in many ways it’s most akin to the vision and precision that watchmaking demands,” he explains. “Everything is done by hand–hand-blown glass, hand-forged metal, and most recently the cast glass and hand-forged bronze in our new Lentium lamp.” Alesch sculpted the wax piece that birthed the Lentium lamp’s mold himself.
“What was most important to us was to be able to create a dance between the lights,” Standefer adds, “to create syncopation by hanging them at different lengths. From there, Stephen created a formal, sacred geometry with the first layer of lighting, and I played free jazz over them—together they create a fabulous tension that animates the space.” Integral to the exhibition is the variation in experience as daylight changes. “We spent quite a bit of time in the space—from early morning when a literal slant of winter light comes in from the southeast, to dusk when everything is suffused in the most gorgeous glow, and into night—to get the lights just right at every minute of the day,” she adds. As such, repeat visits aren’t simply encouraged, they’re necessary.
