A 1974 chance encounter with a licensed optometrist who used color therapy
in his practice affected the direction of my work, and my life.

Through Yasser Ansari’s Genomics class, for the first time in my life I
have an opportunity to examine and research the effects of wavelengths of light and some of its effects on the human body within an academic setting.

Most people know about “blue” light to treat neonatal hyper-bilirubinemia, broad-spectrum light in the treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder, and understand that daylight helps to prevent rickets and osteoporosis by stimulating Vitamin D3 production.

What is of interest to me is that there is a growing body of experiential evidence that specific wavelengths of light may be used to treat specific medical problems.

I’d like to continue my research and have it mean something outside of the subjective world of visual art. This will only happen if I can gain access to research grade instrumentation and unbiased experimental support. The past several months I have made contact with medical doctors, engineers, and a physicist at New York University, State University of New York College of Optometry, and the University of California, San Diego.

Phase one of my project involves measuring wavelengths of visible light as transmitted through optical filters from an existing medical device. To do this accurately I need to use a spectroradiometer.

Phase two is measuring physiological responses to specific frequencies of light during a given period of time.

The experimental parameters and procedure for this part of the project will be designed by Dr. Kenneth Ciuffreda at the State University of New York, College of Optometry (http://www.sunyopt.edu/faculty/viewprofile.php?ID=103).

Dr. Ciuffreda is openly critical of the efficacy of light therapy and has volunteered to participate in this project.

I am keeping my contacts at the College of Syntonic Optometry (http://www.collegeofsyntonicoptometry.com/home.html) out of this project for experimental objectivity.

Based on the experiment’s results, I would like to publish the project’s results and create other works of art and healing based upon the research.

The device pictured below is an optical syntonizer built and sold in 1933. Theses units – as well as updated ones – are in use by medical professionals in Europe and the United States. This filters and frequencies used in this unit are the foundation for my research.

(http://www.terezakis.com/fos/fotos.html)

Peter Terezakis
ITP, Tisch School of the Arts
New York City