Public defense – PhD in the Arts Caroline Mathieu

LUMINAL. Expanding the Agency of Light in the Performing Arts: a Study on Coloured Light

What if light is not just a medium, but an active player in an artistic experience? Caroline Mathieu presents her PhD thesis LUMINAL, an interdisciplinary study of the physiological and phenomenological effects of coloured light in the performing arts. Through immersive installations and biometric measurements, she explores how light not only influences our perception and physical reactions, but also how it can function as a protagonist – with its own agency within the dramaturgy of a performance.

• Academic supervisor : Valéry Ann Jacobs
• Artistic supervisor : Harry Cole.

On November 25th, the performance LUMINAL of Caroline Mathieu will be presented at Pilar.

FUTURE NARRATIVES VII, a whole year of research events at the RITCS. Artistic research and reflection are made visible in workshops, lectures, screenings, reading groups, you name it. FUTURE NARRATIVES VII runs from September 2025 to June 2026, and focuses on students and teachers, as well as all interested outsiders, both within and outside the creative field.