It is only when light is reduced that the pupil opens and feeling goes out of the eyes like touch.
James TurrellRead
I wanted to deal with light directly rather than with paint.
Interpretation
James Turrell emphasizes the significance of light as a medium in art, prioritizing its natural essence over traditional materials.
In this quote, James Turrell expresses a profound artistic philosophy where he seeks to engage with light itself rather than using paint as a medium. This reflects a desire to explore the inherent beauty and transformative power of light in an experiential way, suggesting that the essence of art can be found in natural elements rather than confined to traditional methods.
In practice
In a gallery discussion about contemporary art practices.
It is only when light is reduced that the pupil opens and feeling goes out of the eyes like touch.
I feel that I want to use light as this wonderful and magic elixir that we drink as Vitamin D through the skin - and I mean, we are literally light-eaters - to then affect the way that we see.
In many cases, if we knew what it would take, we might have thought twice about it, so it's often wonderful that we don't have hindsight.
There are different stages when you fly. The first stage is the dollhouse effect, seeing everything on Earth like it's a model. Suddenly, all of your concerns seem very small.
Space has a way of looking. It seems like it has a presence of vision. When you come into it, it is there, itβs been waiting for you.
I'm known as a light artist. But rather than be someone who depicted light, or painted light in some way, I wanted to have the work be light.
Poetry is a vocation. It is not a career but a calling.
What I notice is that every adult or child I give a new set of Crayolas to goes a little funny. The kids smile, get a glazed look on their faces, pour the crayons out, and just look at them for a while....The adults always get the most wonderful kind of sheepish smile on their faces--a mixture of delight and nostalgia and silliness. And they immediately start telling you about all their experiences with Crayolas.
I guess I have a talent for humiliation, a place within me that experience can't reach, which is terrible in real life but something that comes in handy in writing. It seems as though humiliation has become a career for me.
No matter how many times people say it - 'Oh, I'm just writing this for myself' 'Oh, I'm just doing this for myself' - nobody's doing it for themselves! You're doing it for an audience. So whether I'm performing or writing a book or playing music, it's definitely to be put out there and to be received in some way, definitely.
It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.
I love acting. Oh, God, I love it. But all this fame and all this bullshit attention. I'm not supernatural. I've done nothing extremely special to deserve the position. It happens every couple of years, and it's happened to hundreds of people before me.
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