Sculpting with Light?
We create the reality in which we live- James Turrell
Joseph’s Coat: Skyspace by James Turrell (2011)
Joseph’s Coat is a triumph of technology, engineering, and aesthetics. The Skyspace, created by internationally-renowned artist James Turrell, is a gathering place for contemplation and offers a unique experience.
At sunset, a sophisticated system of LED lights is employed to change the color of the space. In doing so, the artist changes the context in which we view the sky through the 24-foot aperture in the ceiling, affecting our perception of the natural environment and the surroundings. As we gaze up at the sky, we are invited to contemplate light, perception, and experience. (The Ringling)
See
Turrell, whose medium is light, has installed numerous Skyspaces worldwide. Each is unique but is based on an enclosed space with an impossibly constructed aperture in the roof through which the changing sky can be viewed.
OUTSIDE, INSIGHT (2011)
ARROWHEAD (2009)
SKY PESHER (2005) Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
In 2005, James Turrell completed the Skyspace' Piz Uter’ in Zuoz, a Swiss village in the upper Engadin. Embedded into the mountainside, the Skyspace appears externally as an archaic-looking cylinder built from dry stone masonry. The project is defined by its two openings: the entrance, strategically directed towards the valley, and the overhead oculus that presents uninterrupted sky views. (Designboom)
PIZ UTER (2005)
Say
How does Turrell meet his goal of ‘valuing light’ as a precious commodity?
How would it feel to experience one of Turrell’s pieces?
Turrell was raised as a Quaker. How do you feel his upbringing may have influenced his work?
Do
Lay down outside and look up at the sky at dawn or dusk. Watch the light subtly change over time.
Experience a Turrell Skyspace in your part of the world!
Watch this 4-minute video and interview with the artist, James Turrell.
See the Guggenheim installation below
About James Turrell
“My work has no object, no image and no focus. With no object, no image and no focus, what are you looking at? You are looking at you looking. What is important to me is to create an experience of wordless thought.”
James Turrell is an American artist (b.1943, Pasadena, CA) known for his work within the Light and Space movement. His work Skyspaces can be found all over the world. Much of Turrell's career has been devoted to a still-unfinished work, Roden Crater.
The California-born artist has spent the last four decades carving a celestial observatory and light exhibition out of a 400,000-year-old extinct volcano. When Turrell’s done with it, visitors will be able to gaze up at the sky from inside the crater and meander through trippy tunnels and rooms illuminated entirely by light from the sun, moon, and stars, depending on when you visit. But it isn’t finished––completion has been pushed back again and again—so we’re left to dream what a visit might be like. From what we can already tell, the piece is truly a wonder. (Thrillist)
Awards: MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada, Wolf Prize in Arts - Sculpture
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