I loved that Houston MFA show. Some of the beautiful light installations delightfully tricked my eyes and it was hard to tell what I was seeing or how I was seeing them. I’ve never seen anything like his work.
On a much subtler note, his skyspace at my alma mater Rice University is an unusual experience born from a comparatively simple concept. Visit at dawn or dusk to slowly watch the light change through a cutout in the roof of the open-air building.
James Turrell is a Quaker and he actually designed a retractable skylight for the long gray plain building called the Live Oak Friends Meeting House so people can sit inside in peaceful quiet and slowly watch the light change as they commune with God. It’s also in Houston and I recommend you check it out when they next open for public viewings on Friday evenings.
I got to see the LACMA exhibit, and experience the perceptual cell, and yes, all of the insane descriptive words (like “fog of light”) are actually spot on. The dark room disoriented my partner so rapidly that we had to leave before seeing it come to life. If you ever get the chance to see a Turrell work of any sort, do take it. There are permanent Skyspaces all over the world and someday Roden Crater will open.
There’s a secret Turrell hidden above the Louis Vuitton store in Vegas. Free. 10/10 would recommend… bring some friends, super baller. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/akhob
