James Turrell «Roden Crater» 1974 -

James Turrell, Roden Crater 5, 1974

Turrell’s work allows us to see ourselves 'seeing.' Whether harnessing the light at sunset or transforming the glow of a television set into a fluctuating portal, Turrell’s art places viewers in a realm of pure experience. Situated near the Grand Canyon and Arizona’s Painted Desert is Roden Crater, an extinct volcano the artist has been transforming into a celestial observatory for the past thirty years. Working with cosmological phenomena that have interested man since the dawn of civilization and have prompted responses such as Stonehenge and the Mayan calendar, Turrell’s crater brings the heavens down to earth, linking the actions of people with the movements of planets and distant galaxies. His fascination with the phenomena of light is ultimately connected to a very personal, inward search for mankind’s place in the universe.

James Turrell, Roden Crater original site plan 1, 1974
Roden Crater original site plan

James Turrell, Roden Crater original site plan 2, 1974

James Turrell, Roden Crater aerial 1, 1974

James Turrell, Roden Crater 4, 1974

James Turrell, Roden Crater aerial 2, 1974

James Turrell, Roden Crater litho, 1974

James Turrell, Roden Crater 3, 1974


James Turrell, Roden Crater model, 1974

James Turrell, Roden Crater 2, 1974

James Turrell, Roden Crater 1, 1974

Mr. Turrell creates elaborately simple structures within which to experience light and space in new ways. His 'Gesamtkunstwerk,' an inverted Babel being constructed within Roden Crater, a dormant Arizona volcano, is currently due for completion in 2006. A multimillion dollar earthwork of tunnels, elliptical chambers, and a perfected rim, it is designed for enhanced contemplation of the heavens, a kind of natural telescope that will use the laws of perception in lieu of lenses. ~ David Cohen.

James Turrell, Roden Crater approach, 1974

James Turrell, Roden Crater terra, 1974



Turrell talk, 1984
Project Roden Crater
Art Tower Mito, Japan.

sources: pbs.org, lasersol.com, artcritical.com