James Turrell was born May 6, 1943 in Pasadena, California to a Quaker family. He is an American artist that utilizes light and space to communicate with viewers without words impacting the individual’s perception. His undergraduate study was at Pomona College where he studied psychology and mathematics. He didn’t pursue art until he was in graduate school where he received an MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) in light and space at Claremont Graduate University. Turrell also studied perceptual psychology and optical illusions that plays a big role in his works. His communication between the work and the audience is virtually visual stating that “I want to create an atmosphere that can be consciously plumbed with seeing…like the wordless thought that comes from looking in a fire.” He uses sight to give the viewer an experience unlike any other because for everyone it is intimately different which makes it so fascinating.
Composition diagram 1.5” x 3”
Conslusion James Turrell is an artist that uses light and space to communicate to the audience. He uses neutral colored rooms and installations to give light a presence that has volume. Thanks to his studies in psychology and mathematics he succeeds in giving the illusion that light can be made into a solid form. He creates his work as something to be experienced to grasp it. This is because his intention is to emote individuals and to have light transport you to another dimension. Similar to Peter Cooks Drawing: The Motive Force of Architecture that stresses to go beyond the drawing, Turrell presents light beyond what it appears to be.
The Roden Crater Project is what James Turrell is most known for. It started more than 25 years ago and is still in progress. The goal for the project is to sculpt the crater uniformly into a smooth parabolic section in order to create the illusion that the depression in the earth is in fact flat ground and the sky is vaulted. Turrell’s intention is to have viewers observe the sky as it is still and the earth is actually moving. He does this by creating an underground walkthrough telescope projecting into the sky. With this project, he can communicate with the audience not to see the sky as we see it just by looking out but to see it in a way that we don’t normally see it.
http://www.c4gallery.com/artist/database/james-turrell/james-turrell-roden-crater/ james-turrell-roden.html
Skyspace: To emote
Lesson One In studying Turrell I have learned that the invisible can be made visible. This is shown by his use of space and color to give light a shape. In the diagram, I created shows that he uses neutral white colored installations to present light taking space. In doing this we can clearly see that light has taken form. Being in the installation has an effect on viewers of transporting them to another dimension. In order to communicate, Turrell doesn’t use words and instead communicates with his work. It just goes to show that communication can be done with the eye.
James turrell is famously known for creating skyspaces. A sky space is and architectural design in which a room, which is painted in a neutral color has a large hole in the ceiling which opens directly to the sky. The room has benches and allows people to look at the sky in a way that it looks framed. Being a Quaker, he transformed a worship center into a skyspace to bring natural light. He did this not in order to emote those in the room to feel peace. Usually, most of his sky spaces have LED lights light up the room like the one in Pomona College. When I visited the skyspace at Pomona College, there was a bed of water reflecting the sky. It was very sublime and put me in a calm state as the room changed colors slowly. https://hirambutlergallery.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/james-turrell-skyspace-reopens/ https://hirambutlergallery.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/james-turrell-skyspace-reopens/
Light Space: To communicate
Lesson Learned
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The intangible can be made tangible
Lesson Learned
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Turrell Creates Light Spaces by using a neutral colored room and projecting LED lights in them. These installation rooms usually have two or more colors that change slowly. He has a great fascination with light and sees it as more than what everyone else sees. In order to communicate his view he makes these installations with vibrant LED lights to give light volume. The light transforms the room and makes it appear as something almost tangible. His light rooms create such an experience that neuroscientists use his work as a platform in studying how light and color affects our experiences.
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James Turrell creates skyspaces, sky lights, holograms and light structures. No matter what the art piece is, they all have two things in common; light and space. He uses neutral colored room or space and to give light a physical presence. The colors he uses are both artificial and natural. The natural color comes from sunlight and the artificial color comes from LED lights. The colors he uses are very bright and vibrant. He does this because bright colors have more of a presence. He doesn’t create lines in his works but rather uses light to create implied lines. Theses lines separate one tone of color from another. Turrell uses solid colors to give light a tangible look and fading colors to create a glowing effect. With all these techniques he gives the illusion that light is more than something that gives shape to things. Light becomes the object rather than the medium.
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Turrell’s inspiration comes from the way the world works and the way everyone has a different view of the way things are. His study in psychology and mathematics plays a big role in works. A pinnacle moment that had a major impact in his art was when he was in Pomona College watching a slide projector in the darkened room. He recognized that light is not a tool to enable vision but an element to look at. In all his works that are installations, they all involve colored light that takes up space. His installation structures are all white to which he states that in one way it is a noncolor. He does this so that the color of the walls doesn’t manipulate the space but rather the color of the light hold volume and define the space.
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http://www.disd.edu/blog/master-of-light-and-space/
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Holograms: To present
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a case study by Abbas Hussaini
James Turrell
The Roden Crater Project: To observe
Discussion of Creative Individual and the importance of visual communication
Using Holography, Turrell makes the light itself the subject instead of the medium. He creates colored light holograms that appear to possess mass and take up space. Similarly to his light space rooms, he creates holograms to present light as an object. These holograms are created in a dark space with bright light(s) as centerpiece. The floating effect of the light displays it in a way that looks tangible. To our everyday eyes light is not visible as a form but with the holograms Turrell makes the invisible light visible as a form.
In his structures, turrell communicates his vision by making the viewer feel like they are in another dimension. A place where the unseen is seen and reality is obsolete. One thing that is also present in all his works is his education in psychology. His work is not only an art but also a presence that forces us to use our minds differently.
https://www.artsy.net/artist/james-turrell http://arttattler.com/archiveholograms.html
Born May 6, 1943 Pasadena, CA
https://www.artsy.net/artist/james-turrellhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/james-turrellhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/james-turrell
Graduated from Claremont College, 1965 Graduated with a study in mathemathics and Psychology.
Graduated from Pomona College, 1973 Graduated with a study in mathemathics and Psychology
The Roden Crater Project, 1979
The land was bought in 1977 and Construction started in 1979 Arizona.
Lesson Two Turrell has a perfectionist mindset. He creates his work to be of the highest standard and quality. Good enough is not good enough for him. An example of this is shown by his Roden Crater Project which he started 25 years ago and is still working on it. He has a lot of patience and strives to communicate his work only when ready. This teaches me to have a standard of quality and never be happy with good enough.
Creating Illusions
Lesson Three Creating emotion with his work is a must for Turrell. By doing so, it attracts viewers to his work and makes people think differently. His skyspaces puts people in a state of serenity. The sky hole in the room makes people feel as if they are outside and the room makes them feel housed in contrast. In addition, there is another contrast with the natural light coming in and the artificial light of the room changing. This mechanism with vibrant lights has a calming effect on people. It teaches people to not only have people engaged but also to create emotion.
Lesson Learned
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Art as an emote
Space that seas, 1992 Milk Run, 1996
Isreal Museum, Jerusalem, Isreal
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., Light projection of florescent tubes and colored gel
Backside of the Moon, 1999 Minamidera, Arthouse Project Naoshima, Japan
Above Horizon, 2004
Sheats Goldstein Residence, Beverly Hills, California
Deer Shelter, 2006
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, England
Aton Reign, 2007
Installation was set in Guggenheim Museum, New York