Bringing together established and emerging practitioners whose primary medium is light, as material or subject, this book communicates the ways in which each practitioner extends the language of light and provides insights into the creative process. Structured around four thematic essays - Political Light, Mediating Light, Performance Light and Absent Light - it develops our understanding of light as a creative medium and its impact on our cultural history and examines the role that light plays in the new frontiers of art, design and technology.

The contributors have been chosen for their range of work across disciplines, with a focus on practice and methodologies. They include early pioneers and innovators of light, as well as current practitioners from the fields of theatre, music, performance, fine art, film, public art, holography, architecture, and the built environment, together with curators and other experts.

Beautifully illustrated with photographs, sketches and artefacts selected by the artists and designers, the book includes interviews with Gustav Metzger, Yoko Ono, Liliane Lijn, Susan Hiller, Anthony McCall, David Batchelor, Richard Wilson and Anne Bean, Wenyon & Gamble, Helen Marriage, Michael Hulls & Russell Maliphant, Paule Constable, Rick Fisher, Andi Watson, Paul Normandale, Chris Levine, Mark Major (Speirs & Major), Jason Bruges, Angus Farquhar (NVA), Cliff Lauson, Rana Begum, Robin Bell, Laura Buckley, Katie Paterson, Haroon Mirza, Manu Luksch, Rafael Lozano Hemmer.