The Shape of Perception: The Art of James Turrell

by Carl Jennings

James Turrell. Knight Rise, Scottsdale Museum of Art, AZ (Image Sean Deckert, source: http://www.scottsdalepublicart.org/permanent-art/knight-rise-skyspace)

You enter a cylindrical structure through a rectangular door. Inside the space is simple and empty; no ornamentation, just a minimalist sense of space and materials; wood, stone and concrete. The room is empty except for a bench that runs around the inside of the curved walls. People are sitting here and there, looking up at a circular monochromatic light [1] on…