flickr stream of the work of James Turrell


and from PBS/Art 21:

James

Turrell

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About James Turrell

James Turrell was born in Los Angeles in 1943. His undergraduate studies at Pomona College focused on psychology and mathematics; only later, in graduate school, did he pursue art, receiving an MFA from the Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California. Turrell’s work involves explorations in light and space that speak to viewers without words, impacting the eye, body, and mind with the force of a spiritual awakening. “I want to create an atmosphere that can be consciously plumbed with seeing,” says the artist, “like the wordless thought that comes from looking in a fire.” Informed by his studies in perceptual psychology and optical illusions, Turrell’s work allows us to see ourselves “seeing.” Whether harnessing the light at sunset or transforming the glow of a television set into a fluctuating portal, Turrell’s art places viewers in a realm of pure experience. Situated near the Grand Canyon and Arizona’s Painted Desert is Roden Crater, an extinct volcano the artist has been transforming into a celestial observatory for the past thirty years. Working with cosmological phenomena that have interested man since the dawn of civilization and have prompted responses such as Stonehenge and the Mayan calendar, Turrell’s crater brings the heavens down to earth, linking the actions of people with the movements of planets and distant galaxies. His fascination with the phenomena of light is ultimately connected to a very personal, inward search for mankind’s place in the universe. Influenced by his Quaker faith, which he characterizes as having a “straightforward, strict presentation of the sublime,” Turrell’s art prompts greater self-awareness through a similar discipline of silent contemplation, patience, and meditation. His ethereal installations enlist the common properties of light to communicate feelings of transcendence and the divine. The recipient of several prestigious awards, such as Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships, Turrell lives in Arizona

I flipped the words to either bold or Veranda for my quick reference.




I think of the work of this man almost everyday.  laughing at myself ... this is really good work ... my favorite work.  Some of the reading I've looked at said Roden Crater is the United States' version of the Sistine Chapel.  I've never seen the Sistene Chapel, of course I would love to, but I don't think I could/would make the comparison between these works.  

Michelangelo, yes, genius by any standard, laid on his back for four years to paint the ceiling ... and he did a lot of other amazingly cool and innovative things which reflect his marvelous capacity to think and do. I imagine if I were to have the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Sistine Chapel or any of the works of Michelangelo that I would be incredibly impressed and enriched by the work ... and tenacity ... the skill of a man.  I would stay with him while I looked at what he did.  Mr. Turrell's work, the work of his hands, of his mind, of his soul ... seem to call me to float away from what I can observe at the installation site to an entirely different place.  I think that would be a place where I would want to be.  I think that would feel like home.  

I've been watching the progress of a recent installation at Rice.  I almost went to undergraduate school at Rice University ... I've been on that campus,  I can easily go there again.  I have every hope of visiting this Skyscape.  I could maybe spend several different days there.  Houston was home when my parents stopped their nomadic life of traveling the Southwest. Twilight Epiphany

What I've read indicates that Roden Crater is not open to the public.  One may be invited to visit.  A site I look at suggests friends of can be invited ... friendly begins at $5,000.00 bucks.  I understand that an endeavor which demands a lifetime is costly in many different ways.  I will have to hope that the pictures coming out of the crater will help me see a bit of this master feat.  I would want to study the process anyway ... if I had a hope of actually visiting the experience I would want to build an understanding from which to embrace it.  Truth is, I doubt the money would go very far towards trading for the amount of time I would want to spend in the art of this light.  Maybe it will pay for itself with in my life time ... maybe it will come closer to a possibility for me.  I would like to hope so.
See ... I have learned that hope is a big word.  Hope.

so ... on another note ...
My little Tapa plates came out of the kiln this week end.  I like them ... I think I would like the rounded edges of Redbud leaves better  for this idea, so I may try again ... these are good for what they are, but my favorite thing about them is the shadow they cast.  I am going to hang them from leather straps in the breakfast room ... and maybe I'll use them or maybe I'll give them away.

... off to that ceiling!