Artist: James Turrell - Skyspaces

American artist James Turrell has worked directly with light, space and colour to create artworks that engage viewers with the limits and wonder of human perception. James Turrell considers the sky as his studio, material and canvas. His work is not about light or the recordings of it, his work is light - the physical presence of light in sensory form. 

There are over eighty Skyspaces - chambers with an opening in the ceiling to the sky. Just by witnessing the sky from within a Turrell Skyspace, at dawn and dusk, reveals how we internally create the colours we see and thus, our perceived reality. Turrell’s medium is pure light. It's not something you can form, carve away at like wood or stone. You need to value the lights presence and create the experience for people to feel the same. He brought the space of the sky down to the top of the space you enter. Closing the gap so you feel like you are in the air. 

I absolutely love the simplicity of the work and at the same time the intensity of it. You are left to question your own perception, your own thoughts. You observe how your eyes and mind perceive colour. It is a very sensory experience. Feeling the light's physical presence and come to value it. James Turrell creates an experience that is different for everybody as all of us sees differently. Every experience will be different depending on light, time of day, what your eyes focus on and your perception. The spaces feel like temples where you can go and experience light and the sky and just be with yourself. 

“My work has no object, no image and no focus. With no object, no image and no focus, what are you looking at? You are looking at you looking. What is important to me is to create an experience of wordless thought." James Turrell

James Turrell's architectural installations heighten the viewers awareness of light leaving out any other distractions. The experience could be considered as peaceful and meditative. 

"He's an orchestrator of experience, not a creator of cheap effects. And every artist knows how cheap an effect is, and how revolutionary an experience." Chuck Close 

After coming out of such a space you start to question everything you look at. You become more observant of light and its affect on surroundings. 


~ Ev

ABC Cinema - Biennial

I have walked past this building on the corner for the past two years of living in Liverpool and never knew what was inside. I didn't know it was an old cinema that has been closed for years. ABC Cinema is a Grade II listed building in Art Deco style, opposite Lime Street. It first opened for the public in 1931. The last film shown there was in 1998, showing Casablanca.

ABC Cinema from outside

For the Biennial the ABC Cinema is open to the public, to see some of the work produced by artists that are exhibiting there. As mentioned in my previous post this year's Biennial is spaced over 22 venues holding around 42 artists ranging in disciplines, mediums and practices. The venues are ranging from polished gallery spaces to abandoned and unused buildings, public spaces and museums. So when i heard that some spaces that they used this year are abandoned and unused i was intrigued how the artists have engaged with such a unique space and i couldn't wait to see the space itself too.

As i entered into the space i was a bit disorientated due it being quite dark and badly lit to see my surroundings. I needed time for my eyes to adjust to the lighting and take in everything around me. It was a really different experience from a white cube gallery space. I didn't know where to look and how to behave in the space. The space itself was so beautiful and atmospheric that at some point i didn't look at the artwork in it but the beautiful characteristics of the space, such as the uneven flooring, the cold underground feel and the look of the space that has been frozen in time.

I moved around the space trying to figure out where the work is as the sculptures have blended really well to the surroundings. Suddenly a video started playing on the other side where the stage was. There was a stage on which i could see a big screen and a video playing. There were seats in front of the screen randomly spaced out and different from each other which i found was a nice touch. the seats were worn and old and really went well with the surroundings. The video itself was mostly coloured in purple, blue and pink. Tinted to create an atmosphere. There were figures in the video, acting and telling us some kind of a story. The artists collaborative work reflects on cinema history, philosophy and technological evolution. The video recounts a history of technology in reverse.

Exhibition view at ABC Cinema, Liverpool Biennial 2016. Photo: Jerry Hardman-Jones

The video piece was by Fabien Giraud and Raphaël Siboni. The video was called The Unmanned - 1922 - The Uncomputable, Season 1, Episode 4, 26 mins, 2014 (excert 7 mins).

Fabien Giraud and Raphaël Siboni, The Unmanned (1922 – The Uncomputable) (film still), 2016. Courtesy the artists

"The Unmanned includes an account of the Earth’s dismantling in 7242, the discovery of California by conquistadors in 1542, and, in 2045, the moment at which machine intelligence overtakes human intelligence. The most recent episode, 1922 – The Uncomputable, which reflects on Lewis Fry Richardson’s attempt to build a huge weather-forecast factory, has been commissioned for this year’s Biennial as part of the Flashback episode." - link

What i found the most interesting about this piece of work is its positioning in relation to the theme of the video and its surroundings. In that particular space on the stage. Having a screen on stage where history meets technology, past meets present. I like the collision of old and new and it is the perfect space for this particular video which focuses on technological evolution. The old historic cinema adds to the video and does not take away, they are balancing each other well in the space and work together to deliver information. If this same video would have been shown in a plain white cube it would have been more boring from my point of view and less interactive with the space and the audience which in my opinion is important. It would not have the same relationship with the space.

Another thing that i have notice in the space is the interaction between the artworks. When the video is playing the other artworks are not seen as they are in the dark and attention is on the video, when the video isn't playing the sculptures and the rest of the pieces are visible. They allow each other to breathe in the space and interact in the space in their own way.

Definitely a space to check out. Historic and beautiful with interesting art!

~ Ev

Krzysztof Wodiczko - 'Guests' (Liverpool Biennial)

Today i went to FACT in Liverpool to see some of the artists showing there for the Biennial (Festival of Contemporary Art). This year there are 22 venues holding around 42 artists ranging in disciplines, mediums and practices. The venues are ranging from polished gallery spaces to abandoned and unused buildings, public spaces and museums. 

The artist that really stood out for me at FACT was Krzysztof Wodiczko. Wodiczko is an artist renowned for his large-scale slide and video projections on architectural facades and monuments. He works around the themes of war, trauma, memory, conflict and communication in the public sphere. His practice combines art and technology to highlight marginal social communities and add legitimacy to cultural issues that are often given little design attention.

As i entered the dark rectangular room where the work was, i saw several projections in shape of windows lining the walls. As soon as i was looking through the "windows" i felt i wasn't in a gallery anymore. I felt that i was in a different space, on the other side of the window where the video was recorded. It felt as though i was looking at people through foggy windows trying to make out what they are talking about and what they are doing. 

The projections were easy to watch and understand. It wasn't one of them videos where you really strain to watch and grasp the meaning of it. This piece was simple yet effective, really balanced out well. It is interactive and that is very important for me to see in an artwork. Some kind of engagement with the audience. 

I could make out that each projection was a different window from a different place. Through one window i could see workers cleaning the windows and singing songs in foreign language. Through another window i could see two gentlemen discussing their problems about naturalization in the country they live now. I could make out a busy place with people passing by in the rain with their umbrellas up and a woman with a child discussing her problems with a friend. The more i saw and the more i heard (but mostly read the subtitles as a lot of it was in different languages), i felt as though i was eavesdropping on them as i was not visible from the other side of the window. The scenes felt private and personal. 

It did not feel to me that i was in a gallery, in a white cube. I felt like i was elsewhere looking into somebody else's life and i was a guest to listen in into the everyday conversations. This work was interactive and atmospheric. I loved feeling a sense of a different place and space. The only boundary between me and those people were windows. 

Krzysztof Wodiczko talking about the piece: Link to video

I have watched a short video of the artist talking about this work and i really like how by using the sense of a different space and the subject, he is making us question whether we are strangers or are we the guests.

This piece of work really made me question how in my own work i can bring a sense of a different space and interaction into the plain gallery. 

~ Ev