Book Review: James Turrell: Into the Light
James Turrell: Into the Light edited by Claudia Giannini, published by The Mattress Factory, 2002. (Amazon)
The Mattress Factory museum of contemporary art in Pittsburgh is home to three permanent installations by James Turrell, the well-known "light" artist known for his skyspaces and his large-scale Roden Crater project in the middle of Arizona. In all these undertakings, Turrell uses light in ways that make attempts to make it more of an object or thing than an everyday phenomenon we take for granted. His ultimate goal is to change the way we perceive reality by changing the way we perceive light and our surroundings. The three MF installations are included in this publication, as are numerous others that were shown at the museum for a temporary exhibition in 2002-03. The permanent pieces include Catso, Red, where light is projected through a cut-out onto a corner (resembling the cover illustration); Danaë, a room with an aperture to another illuminated room; and Pleiades, an apparently completely dark room that reveals itself after the viewer has acclimate their eyes to the space for at least fifteen minutes. This last work is easily the most powerful, the visitor sensing the enclosing darkness as he or she slowly walks up a ramp -- gripping a handrail -- to reach a chair. It is part of an exploration on night vision, in relation to his Roden Crater project. Its meshing of external and internal vision is the most fascinating aspect of what's a fascinating body of work.
The Mattress Factory museum of contemporary art in Pittsburgh is home to three permanent installations by James Turrell, the well-known "light" artist known for his skyspaces and his large-scale Roden Crater project in the middle of Arizona. In all these undertakings, Turrell uses light in ways that make attempts to make it more of an object or thing than an everyday phenomenon we take for granted. His ultimate goal is to change the way we perceive reality by changing the way we perceive light and our surroundings. The three MF installations are included in this publication, as are numerous others that were shown at the museum for a temporary exhibition in 2002-03. The permanent pieces include Catso, Red, where light is projected through a cut-out onto a corner (resembling the cover illustration); Danaë, a room with an aperture to another illuminated room; and Pleiades, an apparently completely dark room that reveals itself after the viewer has acclimate their eyes to the space for at least fifteen minutes. This last work is easily the most powerful, the visitor sensing the enclosing darkness as he or she slowly walks up a ramp -- gripping a handrail -- to reach a chair. It is part of an exploration on night vision, in relation to his Roden Crater project. Its meshing of external and internal vision is the most fascinating aspect of what's a fascinating body of work.
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