Barry Raphael and Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery

what is your name?

Barry Raphael aka b-ray

how would you describe what you do?

I take quotations and song lyrics that have positive messages and combine with images from the video art our studio produces. I use an animated .gif software program and loop the animated frames. On Facebook, I transform them into a single frame since animations are not permitted at this time.

what are you currently working on?

Recently I came across some great Paulo Coelho quotes…friends on MySpace post quotes on our page that I often animate.

what has had the greatest influence on your work?

The need to get uplifting and also humorous messages out to the public. Dorothy and the late Mel Tanner, the creators of Lumonics influenced me tremendously over the years.

what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?

People think it is a video rather than multiple images

what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
Strengths: I can vary the size of the imagery and one can never run out of great quotations.

Weaknesses: The images are .gifs so they are not high resolution, especially when enlarged. But they are fine for the internet in the sizes that I use.

how has technology impacted upon the work you do?

The internet and social networking sites proved to be great places to send out “the propaganda.”

what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?

Find something you love and find the time to nurture whatever it is.

where can we find you online?

www.myspace.com/lumonics and on facebook (Barry Raphael) and Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery

what are you reading at the moment?

I enjoyed the Don MIgues Ruiz book, The Four Agreements, and have taken out some CDs from the public library that are “talking books” like Bob Dylan’s Chronicles read by Sean Penn; and Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth.

what are you listening to at the moment?

Solomon Burke’s Don’t Give Up On Me and Laura Nyro’s The Loon’s Desire.

anything else we should know?

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to express myself, Paul.