2022 Judges

Jennifer Brons,
  Light and Health Research Center
Susi Cerni Price, Lightcraft
Ted Mather, Available Light
Zachary Pearson, Fisher Marantz Stone

Student Competition Committee

Co-Chairs:
John Delfino, Available Light
Shaun Fillion, NYSID | RAB Lighting

Board Advisor/Liaison:
Brigid Hardiman, Lightcraft

Founding Advisor:
Randy Sabedra, RS Lighting Design

Members:
Steven Greenberg, ROYGBIV, Inc.
Michael Hawkins, SDA Lighting
Chelsea Kreielsheimer, Atelier Ten
Kass Negash, W. Allen Engineering PLLC
Craig Young, Ventresca Lighting Designers

Student Competition Archives


2022 Grand Prize Winner

Joanne Wu, Pratt Institute

The IESNYC is pleased to announce Joanne Wu, from Pratt Institute, as the Grand Prize winner for her lighting project "Surveillance" for the 2022 IESNYC Student Lighting Competition.

This year's theme, Reignited, challenged students to create a lighting installation that served as a retrospective using three themes from past competitions. Since 2000, the IESNYC has invited students from New York City Art and Design schools to participate in a city wide design competition. The competition empowers students to explore light as an art form, demonstrate light as a stimulus, and prove light as a valuable medium.

Participating Schools
A total of 106 students from six schools collaborated on 88 projects. The schools that competed were from Pratt, Parsons, NYSID, SVA, FIT, and NYIT. Pratt swept the competition this year!

VIRTUAL GALLERY

Enjoy the amazing creativity from each student submission.

Share with your friends and colleagues and celebrate the award winners!



 

 


Congratulations to all our 2022 Winners!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

Joanne Wu
Pratt Institute
Project Title: Surveillance

VIEW IN FULL ACTION
"Surveillance" tackles the prompt "Evocative Luminance" head-on, depicting a familiar yet daunting scene of a searchlight spinning in the middle of an unforgiving world. The figures in the scene, ambiguous in their purpose, are neither defined as hunter nor hunted, but rather are just seen as humans who see light itself as their enemy. As the icy-toned spotlight glides across the white surfaces, shadows cast by the walls provide shelter while light that is let in between the walls seems to aggravate the humans. The light-emitting cameras and fog in the air make the scene more dynamic, causing rays of light to be scattered and cast at different angles. In this world, the figures, who stand as still as statues, never get the true ending they deserve, eternally confined behind walls, restrained by none other than the light.

 

SECOND PLACE

Shuhao Xuanyuan
Pratt Institute
Project Title: Peaceful Moment

VIEW IN FULL ACTION
My lighting project was focused on Evocative Luminance. Rather than creating a standing still art form light effect, I chose to add in human interaction in order to express and trigger the emotion thoroughly. The emotion here is about relaxation, calmness, and meditation. The movement of different marbles and acrylic balls with water waves in the disks provided a calmness to people to make them relax. The speed and direction of the elements are completely controlled by people with their personal desire. The sound that marbles and acrylic balls made also assists the visual experience to improve the overall effect.

 

THIRD PLACE

Mehul Bhargava
Pratt Institute
Project Title: Anxiety

VIEW IN FULL ACTION
As a student, there is always something or the other going on, be it workload, or any extracurricular events. Stress, anxiety, and chaos are what I feel sometimes when I think about the number of things that are on my mind every day. I created this lighting effect to evoke uneasiness and restlessness among the viewers for them to get a sense of what I feel when I am drenched with tasks on my to-do list. I wanted the viewers to relate to these emotions and just know that everyone goes through these emotions at least once a day. It also creates suspense, to involve and keep the viewer on the edge of their seat till the end. I created a tunnel-like vessel to show depth, colored shadows of the shards, and three-dimensionality of the fixture.

 

HONORABLE MENTION

Hae Ji Nam
Pratt Institute
Project Title: Solitude

VIEW IN ACTION
Solitude is a state of being alone in which one can cherish their few hours of freedom from hardships, unexpected times, and societal norms. This installation impersonates one's home in which one can reflect and bring out their emotions safely and privately. The white curtain of the room is made out of linen, symbolizing homeliness, which one can open and close. This space represents an enclosed room where one sits and take their time watching the lights move slowly. These lights, with different muted colors, are supposed to reflect thoughts and emotions that one suppresses, but let it out in the end of the day. They are controlled in motion to represent serenity and contain various shapes, in which some are harsh and others soft. These lights in motion are created through refraction and coded motors. This room is intended to allow people to immerse in their feelings through a different perspective and approach.

 

HONORABLE MENTION

Constantina Tzanides
Pratt Institute
Project Title: Mythophos: The Tale of Human Enlightenment

VIEW IN FULL ACTION
The Ancient Greek Myth of Prometheus stealing light from Mount Olympus. The tale not only represents the importance of light for survival, but human enlightenment, and how light allowed people to develop into a civilization and be able to tell their stories.

 

HONORABLE MENTION

Siyu Xiao
Pratt Institute
Project Title: Shan Shui: Landscape Painting

VIEW IN FULL ACTION
Shan Shui means the traditional Chinese landscape painting that uses mainly ink to paint on paper. An abstract landscape is formed by matching the black color of the ink and the white color of the paper, like the concept of “yin” and “yang” in Chinese culture. Light and shadow can also create this effect: this installation creates different layers of mountains by controlling the light source, and viewers can manipulate the brush to “write” a poem. The translation of the poem is: Mountains and rivers on any foreign land, with wind and moon under the same heaven stand. This poem not only corresponds to this projected landscape but also expresses cultural empathy. As this poem implies, even though people from different regions have diverse cultural backgrounds, they all share the same emotional perception and empathy. Through this lighting installation, I hope to provide an interactive experience for the audience, establishing a bridge of cultural communication, sharing “the wind and the moon under the same haven stand.”

 

HONORABLE MENTION

Cass Carl
Pratt Institute
Project Title: Interdimensional Translation

VIEW IN FULL ACTION
Light has the unique ability to connect and translate objects interdimensionally. Humans cannot perceive anything outside of the 3rd dimension apart from the 2-dimensional presence or absence of light on a surface. It is impossible to comprehend the 4th dimension, but the idea of it fascinates me. The suspended element is the 3D shadow of a 4D hypercube that is then translated into a 2D shadow using light. These separate objects, which exist in different dimensions, are directly related to each other. Exploring the relationship between the 2nd and 3rd dimensions begins to explain the connection between the 4th dimension and our 3-dimensional reality. When viewing this work, try to prevent your mind from interpreting the 2D shadow as 3-dimensional. Challenge yourself to view the 2D and 3D elements as separate objects, then observe their interaction. Materials: Steel, Cree XM-L2 LED, Fishing Line

 

 

About the IESNYC Student Competition

The IESNYC Student Lighting Competition is dedicated to our founder, Patricia DiMaggio. As an NYC educator and past president of IESNYC, we uphold Patricia’s goals of education, community, and friendly competition. Having grown from 8 students in 2000 to over 200 students today, it is a legacy which will continue to grow with all your support.

One of the goals of the IESNYC is to promote education and greater awareness about the importance of lighting and the Student Competition is one of the contributors towards these efforts. Since 2000, they have invited students from New York City Art and Design schools to participate in a city wide design competition. The competition empowers students to explore light as an art form, demonstrate light as a stimulus, and prove light as a valuable medium. Every year, students in lighting, architecture, interior design, art, product design, photography and electrical engineering programs have submitted projects, resulting in a diverse showcase of ideas and interpretations on a single theme. The IESNYC Student Competition has been incorporated into the curriculum lighting classes in several area schools and has piqued an interest in lighting design of close to a thousand design students to date.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

2025 IESNYC Event and Educational Sponsors

Brilliant Sponsors

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Glow Sponsors

 

Sparkle Sponsor

Lutron Electronics

Twinkle Sponsors

Available Light     |     Hartranft Lighting Design     |     HLB Lighting Design 

  KGM Architectural Lighting     |     MG Engineering

               

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