We Are Light Eaters
May 28, 2013 9:19 AM Subscribe
This summer will be an exciting one for fans of renowned light artist James Turrell. While his masterwork, Roden Crater, near Coconino, AZ is as yet unfinished, there are 3 large-scale retrospectives of his work opening at the LACMA (May 26th, 2013 - April 6, 2014) , Guggenheim (June 21, 2013 - September 25, 2013) and the MFA Houston (June 9, 2013 - September 22, 2013). To whet your appetite you can watch a short PBS documentary on his work or peruse this NY times slideshow of some of his installations with the stories behind them.
Previously.
And, also previously, possibly remembered by what sauropods, theropods and raptors, left behind before the rise of you newbie marsupials, still wander these hills. Where, among others, the first and best link, a photograph of Roden crater from the outside, taken on a flower filled spring dawn is long dead.
I made that because I read about Roden Crater in either Harper's or the Atlantic decades earlier, long before there was anything of an internet or web outside the auspices of DARPA, back when you saved clippings and magazines instead of copying and pasting or bookmarking. I saved it, lost it and never forgot it. I was fascinated by the idea that he and his co-workers, helpers and employees were trying to build an installation that could be mistaken by far future archeologists for Pre-Columbian, if not flat out prehistoric, as well as that so many tunnels were to be built to be lit one day by one or another star on an equinox, solstice or cross-quarter day.
And then, a decade or so ago, the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington opened a Turrell exhibition, complete with a small permanent installation in which you could sit and look at the sky and clouds, a sky tower, if you will. And it was a Turrell installation -- a small oval sheath, no more than ten feet high, the size of two closets in surface area, with a bench that ran all the way around inside, where you could sit and look at a patch of sky. And it being a product of Turrell's mind, if not hands, that sky was both much nearer and much farther, and the clouds you could see in that oval patch were infinitely more detailed, than what what you could see in the sky outside and unemcumbered. I have heard that the old saw that if you stand at the bottom of a well in daylight, you can see stars in the patch of sky above-- that that simply is not true. Sitting in that structure, well, it is much easier to believe it is true.
And the rest of the exhibit was magic. We had to take off our shoes and put on paper booties but oh, what we saw. Nothing like walking into a glowing wall of Chinese Blue and watching it turn into a room, an oddly canted unsquare room optically illusive in three dimensions. 'The mind reels, the intellect stands abashed...'
tl;dr -- Oh, a visit to Roden Crater is certainly on my bucket list.
posted by y2karl at 10:21 AM on May 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
I made that because I read about Roden Crater in either Harper's or the Atlantic decades earlier, long before there was anything of an internet or web outside the auspices of DARPA, back when you saved clippings and magazines instead of copying and pasting or bookmarking. I saved it, lost it and never forgot it. I was fascinated by the idea that he and his co-workers, helpers and employees were trying to build an installation that could be mistaken by far future archeologists for Pre-Columbian, if not flat out prehistoric, as well as that so many tunnels were to be built to be lit one day by one or another star on an equinox, solstice or cross-quarter day.
And then, a decade or so ago, the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington opened a Turrell exhibition, complete with a small permanent installation in which you could sit and look at the sky and clouds, a sky tower, if you will. And it was a Turrell installation -- a small oval sheath, no more than ten feet high, the size of two closets in surface area, with a bench that ran all the way around inside, where you could sit and look at a patch of sky. And it being a product of Turrell's mind, if not hands, that sky was both much nearer and much farther, and the clouds you could see in that oval patch were infinitely more detailed, than what what you could see in the sky outside and unemcumbered. I have heard that the old saw that if you stand at the bottom of a well in daylight, you can see stars in the patch of sky above-- that that simply is not true. Sitting in that structure, well, it is much easier to believe it is true.
And the rest of the exhibit was magic. We had to take off our shoes and put on paper booties but oh, what we saw. Nothing like walking into a glowing wall of Chinese Blue and watching it turn into a room, an oddly canted unsquare room optically illusive in three dimensions. 'The mind reels, the intellect stands abashed...'
tl;dr -- Oh, a visit to Roden Crater is certainly on my bucket list.
posted by y2karl at 10:21 AM on May 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
I spent 10 minutes in a Perceptual Cell when it was at the Philly ICA. With my eyes closed, I was seeing intricate geometric patterns like Islamic mosaics. MAKE THAT RESERVATION!
posted by moonmilk at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by moonmilk at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2013
I saw some work a few years years back that was similar to this at the SF MOMA - it was installed on the top floor, not part of the permanent collection, and consisted partly of a room whose walls slowly changed color. Do any Bay Area mefites remember this, and can you confirm it was Turrell if so? I'm terrible at remembering the names of artists.
posted by whir at 10:36 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by whir at 10:36 AM on May 28, 2013
a small permanent installation in which you could sit and look at the sky and clouds, a sky tower, if you will.
He's done a number of these things - they're actually called "skyspaces". Part of the effect is from the inner edge of the hole having as narrow a profile as possible, which creates the impression that the sky is part of the ceiling surface instead of something beyond it.
I worked on a house for a client who was a big art collector, and he wanted to make sure we had room in his ceiling for a projector that was part of his collection, and a spot on the wall for it to hit. "Oh, like a James Turrell thing?" I asked. "No, not like a James Turrell thing."
posted by LionIndex at 12:37 PM on May 28, 2013
He's done a number of these things - they're actually called "skyspaces". Part of the effect is from the inner edge of the hole having as narrow a profile as possible, which creates the impression that the sky is part of the ceiling surface instead of something beyond it.
I worked on a house for a client who was a big art collector, and he wanted to make sure we had room in his ceiling for a projector that was part of his collection, and a spot on the wall for it to hit. "Oh, like a James Turrell thing?" I asked. "No, not like a James Turrell thing."
posted by LionIndex at 12:37 PM on May 28, 2013
I kept going back to the Perceptual Cell when it was at the Scottsdale Museum for Contemporary Art in '01. I couldn't get enough of it. LA folks, when you go to this exhibit -- and you should -- make the necessary plans to book the cell too. You won't regret it.
posted by .kobayashi. at 12:55 PM on May 28, 2013
posted by .kobayashi. at 12:55 PM on May 28, 2013
I've been to Roden Crater. If wasn't as finished as some of those photos show. (They used to hold the Arizona burning man decompression party at a ranch nearby.) I'm sure that once it's done, it will blow your mind.
posted by Catblack at 1:25 PM on May 28, 2013
posted by Catblack at 1:25 PM on May 28, 2013
He's done a number of these things - they're actually called "skyspaces".
Thank you - I knew sky was in there somewhere but could not remember the rest. I am not surprised he has done a number of these -- as an artist, he is a bit of a corporation, a brand and a factory: he conceives and more than one creates the thing itself. Similar to Chihuly or Hirst, I suppose, only not despicable like the former nor crass like the latter.
As for the experience, the sky can seem farther away or closer by turns. And I noticed all these filigrees of structure such as you only usually see at sunrise or sunset when all is sidelit with shadows. And saw this without shadows or side light. I looked at the same clouds a few seconds later and it was nearly impossible to see such detail.
I've been to Roden Crater. If wasn't as finished as some of those photos show.
Roden appears to be an immense, lifetime project. And likewise, immensely expensive, I would imagine. I wouldn't be surprised if he charges people a pretty penny to help him.
posted by y2karl at 2:51 PM on May 28, 2013
Thank you - I knew sky was in there somewhere but could not remember the rest. I am not surprised he has done a number of these -- as an artist, he is a bit of a corporation, a brand and a factory: he conceives and more than one creates the thing itself. Similar to Chihuly or Hirst, I suppose, only not despicable like the former nor crass like the latter.
As for the experience, the sky can seem farther away or closer by turns. And I noticed all these filigrees of structure such as you only usually see at sunrise or sunset when all is sidelit with shadows. And saw this without shadows or side light. I looked at the same clouds a few seconds later and it was nearly impossible to see such detail.
I've been to Roden Crater. If wasn't as finished as some of those photos show.
Roden appears to be an immense, lifetime project. And likewise, immensely expensive, I would imagine. I wouldn't be surprised if he charges people a pretty penny to help him.
posted by y2karl at 2:51 PM on May 28, 2013
as an artist, he is a bit of a corporation, a brand and a factory: he conceives and more than one creates the thing itself. Similar to Chihuly or Hirst, I suppose, only not despicable like the former nor crass like the latter.
Sure, but I think just about any artist is like that - just think of Warhol and the Factory. Also, I'm sure that quite a bit of the proceeds/fees for building skyspaces in various locations goes towards the completion of Roden.
posted by LionIndex at 3:41 PM on May 28, 2013
Sure, but I think just about any artist is like that - just think of Warhol and the Factory. Also, I'm sure that quite a bit of the proceeds/fees for building skyspaces in various locations goes towards the completion of Roden.
posted by LionIndex at 3:41 PM on May 28, 2013
I was just at the skyspace at MoMA PS1 in New York, a lovely day for it with blue skies and lots of wispy clouds racing around. Really looking forward to these shows!
posted by carter at 9:12 PM on May 28, 2013
posted by carter at 9:12 PM on May 28, 2013
Sure, but I think just about any artist is like that - just think of Warhol and the Factory.
Warhol came to mind as well, when I wrote that. And I did not mean to cast any aspersions on Turrell for doing what he can to raise money to finish Roden Crater. It is a noble project.
As for Hirst, meh, I have no opinion. Chihuly, on the other hand, don't get me started.
Albeit not for his art so much, but for him as an inescapable self-promoting self-created media monster, to whom we in the Pacific Northwest are way way over-exposed.
posted by y2karl at 9:52 AM on May 29, 2013
Warhol came to mind as well, when I wrote that. And I did not mean to cast any aspersions on Turrell for doing what he can to raise money to finish Roden Crater. It is a noble project.
As for Hirst, meh, I have no opinion. Chihuly, on the other hand, don't get me started.
Albeit not for his art so much, but for him as an inescapable self-promoting self-created media monster, to whom we in the Pacific Northwest are way way over-exposed.
posted by y2karl at 9:52 AM on May 29, 2013
I think I've mentioned this before, but my wife and I had the pleasure of getting married in inside a Turrell-designed church here in Houston.
It was really cool. The Meeting House is open to the public, I believe, at sunrise and sunset; if you're in Houston, it's worth a trip.
posted by uberchet at 10:29 AM on June 3, 2013
It was really cool. The Meeting House is open to the public, I believe, at sunrise and sunset; if you're in Houston, it's worth a trip.
posted by uberchet at 10:29 AM on June 3, 2013
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