My works are about light in the sense that light is present and there; the work is made of light. It's not about light or a record of it, but it is light. Light is not so much something that reveals, as it is itself revelation. James Turrell More Quotes by James Turrell More Quotes From James Turrell I like to use light as a material, but my medium is actually perception. I want you to sense yourself sensing - to see yourself seeing. James Turrell yourself you perception light Light knows when you're looking at it. James Turrell looking you light knows We're made for the light of a cave and for twilight. Twilight is the time we see best. When we dim the light down, and the pupil opens, feeling comes out of the eye like touch. Then you really can feel colour, and experience it. James Turrell best experience light time I've always been interested in arrival, and coming to a space, and even to looking back at where you were. James Turrell looking you looking-back space I used to think that only people who were crazy were attracted to the desert, but once you've lived there, you become that way anyway. James Turrell you desert crazy people In a way, light unites the spiritual world and the ephemeral, physical world. People frequently talk about spiritual experiences using the vocabulary of light: Saul on the road to Damascus, near-death experiences, samadhi or the light-filled void of Buddhist enlightenment. James Turrell light spiritual people world I am interested in relating the things we see with the things we see with our eyes closed. James Turrell i-am eyes things see The sky always seems to be out there, away from us. I like to bring it down in close contact with us, so you feel you are in it. We feel we are at the bottom of this ocean of air; we are actually on a planet. James Turrell feel you ocean sky I don't know if I believe in art. I certainly believe in light. James Turrell know light believe art One of the tenets in Quaker meditation is that you 'go inside to greet the light.' I am interested in this light that's inside greeting the light that's outside. James Turrell i-am go you light We have spent billions to go to the moon - we go to this lesser satellite called the moon and say we are in space, but we are in space right now; we just don't feel ourselves to be in space. Some forms of art and some forms of spirituality do give us that sense. James Turrell feel space moon art If you take blue paint and yellow paint and you mix them, you get green paint. But if you take blue light and yellow light and mix them, you get white light. This is a shock to most people. James Turrell you green light people At Roden Crater, I was interested in taking the cultural artifice of art out into the natural surround. I wanted the work to be enfolded in nature in such a way that light from the sun, moon and stars empowered the spaces. I wanted to bring culture to the natural surround as if one was designing a garden. James Turrell nature light work art There's traditionally been a large disconnection in contemporary art between the audience and the artist. Generally, audiences are looking towards what they like, and I can tell you, that's the last thing on an artist's mind. James Turrell looking you mind art This idea that light plays an important part in our life is important to me. James Turrell me important light life Nowhere in the job description of an artist is the requirement that I must validate your taste. James Turrell your job taste artist If you're not an optimist, forget being an artist. James Turrell being you artist forget
