THESIS

TURRELL

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:42:00 -0500

TURRELL

test video

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:38:53 -0500

test video

“Still, that landscape is the place my mind summons when I’m asked (usually in some yogic or...

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:31:00 -0500

“Still, that landscape is the place my mind summons when I’m asked (usually in some yogic or meditative context, now that I live in Los Angeles) to close my eyes and “imagine a scene of total peace and serenity.” In those moments, I picture the Rothko-like blocks of earth and sky, the psychedelic sunsets, the sublime loneliness of a single cottonwood punctuating acres of flat prairie. I remember the sound of golf ball-size hail hitting the roof and denting the car. I remember sitting on the front porch and watching a lightning storm that was miles away but cracked the whole night open nonetheless. It was there, under that sky and at the mercy of all that weather, that I began to understand the concept of a wrathful God. In Nebraska, storms are a violence from which no amount of caution or privilege can protect you. Their warnings crawl across television screens in every season. They’ll blow you or freeze you or blind you into submission. They’ll force you into some kind of faith.”

—http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Lincoln-Nebraska-Home-on-the-Prairie.html

FRANK ABRUEZZESE

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:57:20 -0500

FRANK ABRUEZZESE

FRANK ABURZZESE

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:36:14 -0500

FRANK ABURZZESE

FRANK ABUZZESE

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:35:33 -0500

FRANK ABUZZESE

"When nothing arrests our gaze, it carries a very long way. But if it meets with nothing, it sees..."

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:33:53 -0500

““When nothing arrests our gaze, it carries a very long way. But if it meets with nothing, it sees nothing, it sees only what it meets. Space is what arrests our gaze, what our sight stumbles over: the obstacle, bricks, an angle, a vanishing point. Space is when it makes an angle, when it stops, when we have to turn for it to start off again. There’s nothing ectoplasmic about space; it has edges, it doesn’t go off in all directions, it does all that needs to be done for railway lines to meet well short of infinity.””

- Georges Perec, Species of Spaces

long collection of notes

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:30:00 -0500

james turrell

- formlessness, limitlessness, no idea of depth

- lighting, glow of the night sky

blue

- color of night sky, edge of day and night

- blue is a special color in buddhism

light

- way that you can look/feel connected to environment, you’re all affected by being washed by the same light

- amitabha buddha, buddha of immeasurable light, salvation?

landscape

- translated into bare planes and light

video

- trance- like, but more literal in its trance-style and its use of actual footage

- moves between literal and more abstract

- meant to demonstrate on possible scene/experience that inspires the meditative feel in me (and hopefully others)

- you have to pass through it, go beyond it, to get to the “true essence”

i had to let go of a lot of the literalness to find the true meaning

transcendental

mandala

- meditation, used to aid in trance

- focus on central point, like central point in the road or where the road meets the horizon

- reduced to bare geometric form

driving/countryside

- almost like being nowhere

- people around pass by in cars, their presence is temporary

- being in between two places

- straight lines, straight road, straight path

- clear horizon, no obstacles

moksha - sanskrit, in Indian religions it means literally “release”, from a root meaning “to let go”. applied it means liberation from samsara and the suffering involved with the cycle of death and rebirth. used in buddhism and jainism

similar to nirvana

some views on it: attainment of liberation coincides with unreality of personal self in psyche/egp, and the simultaneous relevation of the impersonal self, seeing all spiritual and phenomenal existence within ourselves, seeing ourselves as buddha

between sentient Awareness and insentient matter is an illusion formed in the mind (I’m trying to create the illusion of the sky, of vast space, of lack of depth or formlessness.

horizon - kind of like reaching the end of a rainbow, you can actually reach the horizon, because it always remains distance relative to you. however, you are moving towards it, it is you goal. kind of like the idea of nirvana in buddhism, it is your goal, but you can’t be attached to the idea or desire it too much otherwise it will evade you. it is something “pursued but never definitely attained”. the line joining earth and sky, kind of like the line joining this land from the “pure land”, or nirvana. “dualistic nature of the horizon by walking every step into the distance in a rhythm of contraction and expansion, concealing and revealing.”

“the horizon is most present in the landscapes of areas, which are minimal in content, open spaces traditionally frequented by phenomena. these areas are notes as offering moments of pure presense where one is both transfized by wonder and transported by sense.

This experience of pure presence is both a temporary suspension of chronological time and bodily activity.

Also included in the exhibition will be Yukaloo, a new Wide Glass work. In these works, Turrell adds a temporal element to his perception-altering oeuvre. Each piece consists of a grid of LEDs behind a pane of etched glass. The LEDs are individually programmed to carry out a subtle shift in color over time, similar to the deliberate but beautiful fashion in which the sky changes from late afternoon to night.

ROBERT IRWIN

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:48:18 -0500

ROBERT IRWIN

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:47:53 -0500

ROBERT IRWIN

"the most often celebrated feature of western space is spatial noncontainment, its expansiveness, its..."

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:45:00 -0500

““the most often celebrated feature of western space is spatial noncontainment, its expansiveness, its vastness, its sheer, weighty limitlessness.””

- Dry: landscapes of belonging and exclusion

JAMES TURRELL Spread

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:44:00 -0500

JAMES TURRELL

Spread

“Eternity, truth, devotion, faith, purity, chastity, peace, spiritual and intellectual life -...

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:07:00 -0500

“Eternity, truth, devotion, faith, purity, chastity, peace, spiritual and intellectual life - these are some of the associations that appear in many different cultures. All express a general feeling that blue is the coolest, most detached and least material of all hues.

The Virgin Mary and Christ are often shown wearing blue in Christian art, and it is the attribute of many sky gods including Amun in Egypt, the Sumerian Great Mother, the Greek Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans), the Hindu Indra, Vishnu and his blue-skinned incarnation, Krishna.

In Buddhism both light and dark aspects of this mysterious color are important.

Light Blue (Turquoise) in Buddhism

The significance of the light shade of blue is reflected in the importance of the semi-precious stone turquoise in the daily spiritual and religious life of the devout Buddhist, who holds various beliefs about this stone. In general terms turquoise is a symbol of the blue of the sea and the sky. Infinity in the sky speaks of the limitless heights of ascension. The stone is opaque as the earth, yet it lifts the spirit high, laying bare to us the wisdom of both the earth and the sky.

When worn in a ring, turquoise is believed to assure a safe journey…Most importantly it is believed to absorb sin.

There also exists as well the concept of living and dead turquoise. Living turquoise has a healthy blue color, whereas dead turquoise has turned either white or black. In the natural aging process of turquoise, exposure to light and body oils darkens the color, eventually turning it black. Tibetans compare this to human aging and death. Wearing “living” turquoise is therefore very desirable, as it will give long life to the wearer.

Dark Blue (Lapis Lazuli) in Buddhism

Nothing illustrates more the spectacular influence of the darker blue on Buddhist aesthetics than the ‘Blue Buddha’, also known as the Buddha of Medicine or Healing. The most distinctive feature of this Medicine Buddha is his color, the deep blue of lapis lazuli.

One commentator has written, “the finest specimens of lapis, intensely blue with speckled waves and swirls of shining gold-colored pyrite, resemble the night aglow with myriads of stars.”

Traditionally this beautiful stone was used to symbolize that which is pure or rare. It is said to have a curative or strengthening effect on those who wear it, and its natural smoothness allows it to be polished to a high degree of reflectivity. Specifically in alternative medicine, because of it being associated with a certain ‘coolness’, it is used when inflammation is present, or when any internal bleeding or nervous condition exists. For all these reasons, plus the fact that deep blue light has a demonstrable healing effect on those who use it in visualization practices, lapis is the color of the principal Medicine Buddha, making this stone an important one in Buddhist mysticism.

Indeed the Lapis Healing Master is one of the most honored figures in the Buddhist pantheon. In one of the main sutras (canonical texts) concerning the Medicine Buddha, Shakyamuni tells his close disciple and attendant Ananda:

I beseech you, Blessed Medicine Guru,
Whose sky-colored, holy body of lapis lazuli
Signifies omniscient wisdom and compassion
As vast as limitless space,
Please grant me your blessings. “

RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:04:00 -0500

RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER

How to make a room into a camera obscura

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:14:00 -0500

How to make a room into a camera obscura

GABRIEL DAWE

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:13:34 -0500

GABRIEL DAWE

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:03:12 -0500

GABRIEL DAWE

Photo

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:01:00 -0500

Photo

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Photo

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500