M-M-T

The Art of Art

James Turrell presents a logical extension of installation art into a research practice. The following is an argument as to how and why.

Installation Art

Installation art is difficult to define and here begins the problem. Within installation the observer is exposed to an ever increasing blur between art and life. In the preface to the text Installation Art, this occurrence is immediately brought forward, as the authors explain:

“Installation as a hybrid discipline is made up of multiple histories...By crossing the frontiers between different disciplines, installation is able to question their individual autonomy, authority and ultimately their history and relevance to the contemporary market.” (1)

This newfound scope is first blatantly apparent in Marcel Duchamp’s, Fountain. As stated above, the discipline of art - it’s autonomy, authority and history - are brought to relevance. Duchamp challenges art in a full frontal manner. The viewer, is left taking the piss.

Rather than expound upon the fact of the matter, other artists have preferred to concern themselves with the feeling of the matter. Damien Hirst provides a stunning contrast within his more recent opera of works, specifically the Shipwreck of the Unbelievable. True to it’s name, the installations and sculptures are unbelievable and their merit as strong as the Elmer’s glue on Mickey Mouse’s boot. The works are all surface and no substance, this fact being the only one of relevance in tying it to today’s culture. A long shot from the direct simplicity that, Death Denied, provides.

James Turrell brings a proper reconciliation of the ideas and critique Duchamp pushes forward. Rather than reiterating the method as Hirst does, Turrell investigates it, approaching art to a form of research.

“Sensing the sensual.” (2)

James Turrell’s primary operative is light and a major attribute of his work is to perceive it as an entity in and of itself. Contrast with Duchamp, whose operative was the idea of art itself. What is to be appreciated here, is Turrell’s choice of light, contrast again, with the minimalists. Bruce Naumann for example observes the fixtures, colours, forms and even narratives of light, such as in Double Poke in the Eye II below, not, it’s physical fact.

What is meant by physical fact, is the item stripped of it’s meaning and relayed to it’s function. Light and it’s perception, are photons striking your eyes, not fluorescent tubes “smacking” each other. In providing himself with such a rigid cornerstone, the merit’s of his work are unquestionable and their applications extensive. Seeing his transition from Shallow Space Constructions to Roden Crater best captures the success of a rigid investigation within installation art. His career begins, asking questions of the cosmos’ key component light, and ends, pitching questions to the cosmos itself.

In conclusion, James Turrell, represents a logical rapprochement of art and research practice. More research must be provided to identify a set methodology and parallels in his practice to the more established fields such as the sciences, it’s only a beginning. Art can do much more than tell you how the artist is feeling. Why not tell you what the universe is hiding?

Bibliography:

1. Nicolas de Oliveira, Nicola Oxley, and Michael Petry, Installation Art (Thames and Hudson Ltd, London 1994)

2. Turrell, James, Ursula Sinnreich, and Zentrum für Internationale Lichtkunst Unna. 2009. James turrell: Geometrie des lichts = geometry of light. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz.

3. Turrell, James, and Turske & Turske (Zurich, Switzerland). 1990. James turrell, long green. Zürich: Turske & Turske.

By Maxime Mballa-Tagny.