“There is much that can be learned by releasing one’s thinking from the all too corporeal demands of modern lighting design” (thesis proposal, 9/24/06)

For his thesis in Theatrical Lighting Design from Boston University, Tony chose to create a series of installations in search of his own definition of the 'Inherent Beauty of Light'. He suggested that in addition to the theatrical knowledge one must possess in order to be a designer, there also needs to be a keen eye for visual lighting composition. The skill of recognizing the beauty or power in a particular lighting 'look' is a crucial part of being a theatrical lighting designer.

Recognizing the beauty of light is a hard skill to learn. It is not an absolute, but an opinion and taste developed over time. The thesis project came about as a way to sharpen and define those things about light that were beautiful to the artist. It was to be a proving ground for the testing of ideas and lighting looks that he could imagine as being beautiful, but would not have otherwise had the chance to realize.

The goal was to create works of art where light was subject, and was not in the service of any other media. Using only a minimum of tangible materials (scrim, haze, water, etc...), Tony sought to create environments that captured his own feeling for the beauty and power of light. He looked to artists such as James Turell, Robert Irwin, Olafur Eliasson and Heather Carson for inspiration and a starting place for what the power of light could be.

As a part of this process, Tony developed many different installations over the course of three weeks in Boston University's Studio 210. The studio proved to be the perfect environment for such testing- a flexible space that could be molded to the light, and controlled in almost every aspect.

On Tuesday April 4th, 2007, There was an exhibit of four installations of Tony Kudner's work in Boston University's Studio 210. These pieces reflected his process, and how his visual aesthetic had changed over the course of his final year of Graduate School.

The link below shows some photographs of Tony's work. Please note that photographs are often not fully representative of how the work appeared in the space.