James Turrell
For over 45 years, James Turrell has been an artist fascinated by light and space. His walk-in light installations provoke emotion among viewers and make them think about space and simplicity.
James Turrell says:
Through light, space can be formed without physical material like concrete or steel. We can actually stop the penetration of vision with where light is and where it isn’t. Like the atmosphere, we can’t see through it to the stars that are there during the day. But as soon as that light is dimmed around the self, then this penetration of vision goes out. So I’m very interested in this feeling, using the eyes to penetrate the space.
I know from personal experience how great and relaxing a walk in his exhibitions can be. The Gagosian Gallery in London has his latest work on display, so if you are in the neighbourhood, check it out yourself!
- 07.11.2010 .
- Benoit Raimbault .
- Tags .
- Category:
- Art & Illustration
- Object:
- Conceptual art + Installation
- Designer:
- James Turrell
- Add this .
- 2 comments
I saw a few James Turrell pieces while on Naoshima Island in Japan. The pieces were mindblowing. As the article says above they made my perspective on space completely change. Two of the pieces I saw forced your mind to either think that there was something there where there wasn’t, or nothing there, when there was.
SPOILERS:
For example, in his art house with Tadao Ando, you are led into a pitch black room and instructed to sit. You are left there for about 5 minutes, and in those 5 minutes, your eyes begin to adjust to the light and you see faint red lights, and can get a sense for the size of the space. In front of you, it appears there is a red screen. After 5 minutes of sitting in this space, a woman came and told me I could stand up and walk around the room towards the “screen”. She asked what we saw. I said “a red screen”. But was it a red screen? You could keep reaching out to where you thought the screen was, and you would never reach it. He was just playing with your eyes. It was truly amazing.
Ah, much more effective than flat & pretentious “paint an empty room one color” efforts. Sounds like he really is exploring the limits of human perception and mental behavior at those boundaries.