James Turrell

James Turrell was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1943.  He studied psychology and mathematics at Pomona College, but ended up earning a MFA from the Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California.  Turrell centers his work in exploring light and space, speaking to his viewers with a spiritual awakening.  By utilizing his studies in perceptual psychology and optical illusion, his work seeks to allow his viewers to see themselves “seeing”.  He accomplishes this in the use of artificial and natural light within the space which enable the viewer to become one with the space.  You are no longer space yourself, but instead one with your surroundings in a realm of pure existence.  You are part of a sunset of color that spans the light spectrum; from bright pinks, to sky blues; from tones in violet, to the deep reds of a fire. 

 His installment at the rotunda of the Guggenheim in 2013 has transformed the organic, curvilinear space into a space that changes from tones of blue, to shades of violet.  The viewer is placed in the space, giving a surreal experience as they intermingle with the color that’s surrounds you. 

Aten Reign, 2013

James Turrell

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC, NY

He also creates geometric spaces such as The Light Side, by placing the viewer in a corridor of color that flows towards the background.  The viewer can walk through the space of blue, violet, or red and find themselves at a spot where you are among the bracket of the piece.  So I wonder what the focal point of the space is.  Is it the space in general?  Or the tone of color placed at the end?  Is it the person who has walked through, bracketing them so they become the focal point while the space becomes the background?  I don’t think I’d know until I can place myself within those brackets… maybe it’s different for each person.

The Light Inside, 1999

James Turrell

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

James Turrell - Roden Crater

James Turrell was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1943. He studied Pomona College in psychology and mathematics, but ended up earning a MFA from the Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California. Turrell centers his work in exploring light and space, speaking to his viewers with a spiritual awakening. By utilizing his studies in perceptual psychology and optical illusion, Turrell work seeks to allow his viewers to see themselves “seeing”.

I became intrigued in Turrell’s work when I saw that his objective is to place viewers in a realm of pure existence, and he accomplishes this task with his use of light within the space. His work seems to span the light spectrum, from bright pinks, to sky blues; from tones in violet, to the deep reds of a fire. His work gives me the feeling of a sunset, with all the glorious colors that one can experience for that brief moment of time. While he has many pieces of work that illuminate color and light within a space, I became awestruck when I stumbled upon Roden Crater. Roden Crater isn’t your typical piece of art, instead it is a monumental structure that Turrell started in 1972, and is still working on it today. Sitting on the southwestern edge of the Painted Desert in Northern Arizona, from the exterior it looks like a mound in the desert, albeit a big mound in the desert. Within this crater, Turrell has constructed a series of chambers, pathways, tunnels and openings which will allow the viewers to enter and experience celestial events with their naked eye. Depending on where you are within the structure, you can either witness the beauty of the sun as it rises, or the sun as it sets. You can witness the illumination of the night sky, and measure time by the movement and shifting of the constellations. Roden Crater’s objective is to give the ability to see the sky and time, not represent it. Which in turn gives the viewer the ability to experience our understanding of the universe, and ponder our place within it.

Crater's Eye

Roden Crater

East Portal - Inside

East Portal - Outside

North Space (under construction)

South Space (under construction)

Alpha East Portal

Sun/ Moon Chamber

Bruce Nauman

Bruce Nauman was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in December of 1941. He received his MFA from the University of California for his work in film products after studying physics, mathematics and art at the University of Wisconsin in the early 60’s. Nauman creates his work by using science and technology, and sees his work as more of an activity and less of a product.  While Nauman has worked in a multitude of mediums, it’s his use of lighting either to create or within his pieces that captivated me.

In this day and age, neon lights are everywhere; advertising any and everything available to a society. Nauman has taken the neon media and placed it back where it originally came from ~ sex. Neon sold sex; from the fluid movement of the images of girls dancing on poles, to the words “SEX” illuminating in the dark; sex was advertised and sold by the bright flashing lights dancing in the dark. Nauman has utilized neon tubing in his naturalistic representations of the male nude in various sexual positions in his Mindfuck exhibition. Between the erotic action of the piece, and the enormous size, the viewer is engulfed in the sexual act before them. Sex and Death/ Double ‘69’ has a staccato action playing out in front of the viewer, with each portion of the male nude engaging in a homosexual act with another male. While the pictures placed online only portray the piece in a 2D version, I can imagine that viewing the piece in person could be quite erotic to some, and uncomfortable to others.








Sex and Death/ Double '69', 1985
Neon tubing on aluminum monolith 227 x 134.8 x 34 cm / 89 3/8 x 53 1/8 x 13 3/8 in
Private Collection. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth









While I enjoyed the work that Nauman created using the neon tubing, I’d have to say my favorite piece of his is Green Light Corridor. This piece is very minimalistic, by illuminating a brilliant green color onto the interior walls of the piece. There is very little space between the walls, but the viewer is able to squeeze themselves into the piece, becoming one with the work. I’d imagine that each viewer would be able to take something different away just by placing themselves inside of the work. Does the constricting space minimize you? Does it make you feel larger than life? Does it evoke panic or peace? You really wouldn't know until you've put yourself into the space and experienced what your mind and soul speak while you stand there and ponder it.

Green Light Corridor), 1971
Wallboard, green fluorescent lights
10 x 40 x 1 ft.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Panza Collection, Gift, 1992

Maya Lin

Maya Lin was born in Athen, Ohio in 1959, and studied architecture and sculpture at the prestigious Yale University where she received her Bachelor’s degree in 1986.  While a student, Lin submitted a minimalistic design into a national contest for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that was being built in Washington, DC.  Though her design was quite controversial due to the material and color it was picked as the winner!  Since then, she has worked on monuments and pieces placed in parks around the nation giving individuals a place to seek out memorial within the landscape that surrounds. 

The piece for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial portrays this landscape use around it, as you can see when you view the piece from above.  The landscape is level to the top of the wall, which forces the observer to step down into the piece.  To me this portrays a metaphoric meaning of the piece, aligning it with a low time for our country; sullen, depressing, and horrific.  But Lin uses the beauty of the material to pair it with the beauty of the landscape, beauty that was present in the souls of the lives that were lost.  Lin’s piece for the Vietnam Veterans memorial is quite large scale, not only horizontally but also vertically.  The piece is comprised of a long, rectilinear gabbro wall that consists of two 246 ft. 9 in. sections, and stands at 10.1 ft. at its highest peak, tapering down to 8 in. at the ends.  The geometric shape is constructed of a black, reflective stone which shows the viewer their reflection as they view the names of the servicemen who lost their lives.  I would imagine that standing in front of the piece would bring a cloud of sorrow, not only from what the names etched into the stone represent, but also due to the amount of names etched that would create a wall so vast in size.  Each name represents someone that lost their life in the war, which would become more ominous to the viewer as you walk through passing name after name.  This piece represents a sorrowful day in our nation’s history, and the way Lin is able to connect the viewer to the sorrow that happened so long ago makes this memorial powerful while giving beauty to the lives etched in stone. 

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1982

Stone

493 ft. 6 in. x 10.1 ft. (highest peak)

Washington, DC