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Art movement: Light and Space
The Light and Space art movement started in Southern California during the 1960s, blending minimalism and geometric abstraction. What set it apart was its emphasis on how observers experience art through elements like light, volume, and scale, using materials such as glass, neon, fluorescent lights, resin, and cast acrylic. Artists crafted installations that interacted with their surroundings, manipulating natural or artificial light to create immersive effects. They incorporated cutting-edge technologies from the Southern California-based engineering and aerospace industries, resulting in sensuous, light-filled objects. James Turrell, a key figure in the movement, succinctly captured its philosophy, stating, “We eat light, drink it in through our skins.”
James Turrell, an extraordinary life
James’s parents were significant in his life. Dad was an aeronautical engineer and educator, while Mom started off as a medical doctor and later joined the Peace Corps. Both were Quakers. I find this a very interesting family background.
During the Vietnam War, Turrell took a unique stance by registering as a conscientious objector, refusing military service on grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. Instead of conventional military service, he embarked on alternative missions to Laos, piloting U2 planes during his teenage years! These secret missions, characterized by Turrell as “humanitarian,” exposed him to breathtaking landscapes, offering a unique perspective from the skies.
Turrell’s educational pursuits reflect his diverse interests. In 1965, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in perceptual psychology, focusing on inherent human qualities rather than learned behavior. His academic journey extended to mathematics, geology, and astronomy. Joining the graduate Studio Art program in 1966, Turrell delved into creating art using light projections.
However, his academic path took an unexpected turn in 1966 when he was arrested for guiding young men on avoiding enlistment in the Vietnam War. This led to a year-long incarceration. Undeterred, he continued his studies and, in 1973, earned a Master of Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University.
Melting the curves of the earth
Back in 1992, James Turrell got an invitation to the International Conference of Landscape Architecture in The Hague, Netherlands. He showed up with this mind-blowing idea for a massive artificial crater in the dunes that was so grand that no one believed it was actually gonna be created. But it did!
Today in the dunes of The Hague, Turrell’s concept became reality. On top of one of the rubble dunes, a bowl has been constructed in the shape of an ellipse, 30 meters wide, 40 meters long. An earthen wall of about 5 meters high encloses the bowl. They call it the Celestial Vault.
To reach this surreal spot, you climb up wooden steps, stroll through a 6-meter-long concrete passage, and there you are. Inside the crater, grassy slopes lead to a monumental stone bench where on which two people can recline and watch the sky take on the shape of a vault. On a higher dune is the same bench where a panorama unfolds over the sea, the beach and the countryside beyond. Turrell basically blended the earth’s curves, dune slopes, and horizon into this breathtaking work of art.
Stroom
Stroom Den Haag is the center of expertise for art, society and the public domain. Together with contemporary artists, we unlock the culture of living together, explore future-oriented social perspectives and stimulate the imagination of the public.
Where to see
The artwork is open 24/7, every day of the year, and the best part? It won’t cost you a dime to soak it all in. And mark your calendar for June 21 – that’s when the sun throws a spotlight right into the core of the Celestial Vault. Next time you’re in The Netherlands and you’re up for a mind wobbling experience, head over to the stone bench, stretch out, and let your mind take you to a cosmic adventure.
