Enlivening the Senses

Continuing the thought about enlivening the senses, I went to an artist opening recently that was quite the experience:

11/22/08 Last night was a cleansing of the soul. We entered Shannon McCarthy’s home and were given chocolate. There was a face painting station on the left and a blank canvas ready to be painted by guests further on. We were given blindfolds and led into a mysterious room. The hosts sat me on the floor and immediately my hearing sense intensified. The ruckus of the room settled and one of the hosts began playing a wind instrument as if an initiation right. How soothing it was without the distraction of sight. A gong was played with other higher pitched instruments. Focused on the sound I eventually let go of my currant place and fully embraced the activity of my ears. Incense burned and lit up my sense of smell. Feeling the tranquility of the smell intensified the experience. Then feather lightly brushed my fingers and drops of water hit the backs of my hands. I tried to keep still, inviting the experience to encompass me. After a time, the wind instrument said a closing and we were asked to open our eyes.

My senses awakened that night.

Light Investigator- James Turrell

The artist James Turrell, brought to life a philosophical investigation. Focusing on expanding the definition of light, he uses minimalist sculpture to communicate. Like a mathematical equation that strips down its elements to what is completely necessary, Turrell’s work does the same. I recently experienced a piece of his; called Meeting, out of his “Skyspaces” series at PS1 in Queens, New York. I wrote about my experience that night:

12/8/2008 Entering the room, I felt a chill take hold of me. There was wooden seating all around the room and my first observation was that it felt like a reverse sauna. The lights were a dim orange. I put on my coat, hat, and gloves; sat down and focused on relaxing amidst the cold. Looking up, my eyes immediately started playing tricks and I had a hard time distinguishing between the white ceiling and the gigantic rectangle cut out of the plaster; revealing the night sky. It was the most suburb minimalist painting. Extreme depth of the sky was juxtaposed with absolute white flatness. Colors began to change, as the outside of the rectangle became a sharp black and the inside turned a dark cobalt blue. I enjoyed slowing down.

James Turrell quoted in an interview with Richard Whittaker,“we have the physiological limits of perception, and then we have this cultural overlay which is a learned perception. They are not identical at all.”[i] Turrell goes on to speak about how we have a language of understanding our senses, but a very narrow one of light. Turrell believes that it is due to how culture labels things on the surface. Light was explored by painters but that type of light is an inward one, not the external type that Turrell focuses on. Turrell comments that we have only the color wheel, and that needs to be thrown in the trash. These observations are interesting.

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[i] Turrell, James, in discussion with Richard Whittaker. 13 February 1999.

"Try Navigating" Woodcut and pastel on paper 42"x72" 2008

"Untitled" Cut Paper 2007

"In Relation To" Cut Paper and woodcut 2007