fig03 Section of the Pantheon, Rome. Originally commissioned by Marcus Agrippa in 27 BC
understanding and control of light at our fingertips now more than at any other time in history, and what do we have to show for it? This book’s title, ‘Nothing Disappears Completely’ is a reference to an enigmatic quality of light and darkness that appeals to our senses; those spaces and images we might find hard to explain01. This book, as a thesis, is as much about the enigma of light as it is about modes of representing it; as much about the ‘lens’ used to capture the image, as it is about the narrative the image suggests. Enigmas inherently raise questions. Do we need to see in order to feel darkness? How much light do people need in order to live, and how much darkness? Are there things we can experience only in dark, shaded places, in the darkness of night? When the lights go out, can you become the space your body inhabits? Is it even possible to imagine things without light? Is there such a thing as bad light? Indeed, is there such a thing as good light? What do we want to illuminate, and how long for? Can we see something without interacting with it? What is light? Is it an illusion?
01 The title comes from a book by Henri Lefebvre, see p52 ix