Reinventing Light Therapy
Marlene Krueger always dreamed of inventing a way that could use light to heal. As a child, she loved wandering around the family ranch, where rows of sweet peas sparkled in the sun. The peas seemed to glow softly, and the light beam felt like a comforting embrace, almost like it was saying everything would be okay. She picked up a translucent pod and felt a deep connection to nature that washed away the pain she had been experiencing. From that day on, Marlene was determined to bring that relief with others.
While at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, working on her MFA, Marlene imagined creating a kind of kinetic light device, that would help others as well.
In 1986, while enrolled in a “Kinetics, Electronics, and Neon” course, Marlene began designing a prototype, where she experimented with ways to fabricate her dream, of helping people heal with kinetic light therapy.
To make this happen, Marlene contacted Dr. Billy Kluver in New York. She had seen a phone number in a magazine that mentioned his work with machines that move, helping conceptional artist needing to create beyond a static image, such as some of the famous pop artists in New York.
At first, Marlene thought she’d talk to a receptionist, instead, she spoke with Dr. Billy Kluver himself, an engineer at Bell Laboratories. He assisted pop artists who requested for his help in engineering kinetic devices. Marlene spent almost an hour talking about everything under the sun, sharing her life’s purpose.
Dr. Kluver was so impressed by Marlene’s passion and dedication that he invited her to meet with him in New York City, along with his wife, Julie Martin, who is famous for her stories in “Art in America.” Julie had written a lot about Dr. Kluver’s experiments with different kinds of mechanical devices and often worked with famous pop artists in the 1960s.
In a heartbeat, Marlene accepted Dr. Kluever’s offer, and that she’ll be there during Christmas break. So that was the plan. Dr. Kluver also gave her contact info for Earl Riebeck, the inventor of the infinity mirror seen in an episode of “Star Trek.” Dr. Kluver thought Marlene should get in touch with him as well. That he’d be happy to share some of his stories. Marlene did, and they ended up talking on the phone for hours. Later, he invited her to visit him in New York City so he could show off his inventions. Marlene said yes.
Marlene’s trip to New York was a calling, being in the middle of the city’s lively culture and galleries at Soho, accompanied by Dr. Kluver and Julie Martin, after midnight, viewing his inventions.
After her culture shock in NYC, Marlene started working on a solid version of her prototype. Upon completion, Marlene tested it out with her professors at the Art Institute, as well as teachers and students from high schools and colleges all over the city who were intrigued.
Throughout her last year, Marlene stayed focused on her vision at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was invited to give a talk about her work at auditoriums that held 400 to 500 people. Besides her talk, her work got noticed, and she was invited to exhibit her large scale installations in a gallery downtown Chicago.
