He is best known for his work in progress “Roden Crater”, located just outside Flagstff, Arizona, where he is turning a natural volcanic cone into a huge naked-eye observatory. He acquired the 4.8-kilometer-wide cone, which boasts an age of around 400,000 years and is transforming it for the specific use to view and experience sky-light, solar and celestial phenomena. Quite a project!

 Skyspace by James Turrell

He is also known for his works when the audience/viewer is enclosed in order to control their perception of light. I was lucky enough to experience one of these at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Leeds in England, in his permanent commission called “Skyspace”, which frames the sky, causing an altered perception of the big ol' blue. The viewer enters “Skyspace” through the entrance to an old deer shelter and is invited to sit on benches that line the room. They then sit back and relax and let the sky becomes a work of art and, depending on the weather, one that is occasionally dotted by drifting cloud or scored by a jet stream. Wonderful stuff.

 Skyspace by James Turrell

Well, this man has brought the light to the Biennale in Venice this year and created light that seems to have weight and mass to it, confusing those who approach it with the desire to touch and explore. Those who are brave will be rewarded by light that creates shape within light and an experience that is bordering on spiritual. The shape remains the same but the colours pulsate slowly enveloping the viewers who take the time to watch. He uses projection to alter our perception and if you take a peek below you can see how light can appear dense within light.

Amazing, no? James Turrell's piece is divided into two rooms and an exhibit that I implore you to experience.

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Written by Ben Taylor

Photos - venice-in-venice.com