A better question may be, who is he not? Turrell is a psychologist and an astronomer; a pilot and a rancher; an expert on mathematics and religion; a “Macarthur Genius” and it seems, all around mental giant. The breadth of his knowledge is mind-boggling.
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The artist James Turrell at Roden Crater. (image source) |
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James Turrel, Roden Crater, work in progress. (image source) |
Often his work calls to mind the mesmerizing affects of everyday light phenomena such as a smoldering desert sunset, the sublime twinkling of the night sky, or the artificial glow of your living room television set. He is perhaps most famous for his Roden Crater — a bafflingly large and remote desert crater that opens its volcanic eye to the Arizona night sky; making astronomic happenings, rather than human creation, the principal feature of his work.
What is Light and Space art anyway?
To experience a piece of “light and space art” is to arrive at a sensory revelation. The vehicle that takes you there is your own perception of light.
Enter an “installation” defined by intangible atmospheric elements of light and space, rather than art objects such as sculpture or painting, and you may find your familiar world turned on its head; so flipped and skewed it becomes entirely unrecognizable as its former self. Your eyes will deceive you, your emotions betray you, and your grasp on physical space escape you.
Think adult fun house — except this time the fundamental questions of human perception take center stage.
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James Turrell, Ganzfeld Piece (model), 2008 (image source) |
"Light is a powerful substance. We have a primal connection to it. I like to work with it so that you feel it physically, so you feel the presence of light inhabiting a space... I wanted to employ sunlight, moonlight and starlight to empower a work of art”.
What can I expect from Jame's Turrell's Trace Elements?
Westword wrote, “Trace Elements (is) a light sculpture exuding such visual magnetism that viewers may believe they’ve died and gone to heaven," and called the installation an “otherworldly” and “a thoroughly unreal environment.”
Los Angeles Times reports the installation “exerted a profound effect on viewers.”
James Turrell | Trace Elements: Light into Space
Scott Johnson | Places Apart
July 14 - Sept. 30
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