Awakening the spiritual: James Turrell and Quaker practice.
Item
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Title
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Awakening the spiritual: James Turrell and Quaker practice.
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Identifier
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AAI3330386
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identifier
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3330386
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Creator
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Kjaer, Lise.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Harriet F. Senie
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Date
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2008
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Art History | Biography
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Abstract
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This dissertation examines the works of James Turrell (b. 1942, Pasadena, California) in relation to his interest in Quakerism. Turrell was born and raised as a Quaker, and has within the past decade renewed his interest and involvement with Quakerism. However, elements of his work throughout his career, can be tied to his Quaker experience, both philosophically and visually.;Turrell's light installations aim to awaken a perceptual experience of light inside the viewer. While this concept developed through his interest in phenomenology and environmental psychology, it is also tied to Quaker theology and the Quaker founder George Fox's suggestions of seeking a spiritual "light within." Additionally, Turrell's series of "skyspaces," for example, which include white interior spaces with a row of benches mounted to the walls, respond visually to the aesthetics of traditional Quaker Meeting Houses. Fox's suggestion of the church to be thought of as a group of individuals, rather than as an elaborate architectural structure, is directly visible here. Fox recommended "meetings" to take place in the open air or, if necessary, in a pre-existing building, ship, or barn, stripped of any unnecessary adornments. Turrell's series of outdoor pieces respond to Fox's suggestion of seeking the light as an experience in relation to the light outside. His series of "Spiritual Spaces" most directly reflect his Quaker upbringing, especially the Live Oak Meeting House, Houston, Texas, which he designed according to Quaker tenets and tradition.;Turrell's experience of imprisonment as an effect of his work as a draft counselor in the Quaker community, influenced him in his series of "Perceptual Spaces." Seeking refuge from violence and rape, Turrell opted for solitary confinement, a dark and uncomfortable space in which one could neither fully stand up, nor lie down. It was in this darkened space that Turrell realized the mind experiences light even in darkness, and is capable of mentally expanding a narrow enclosure. The "Perceptual Cells" reflect this biographical experience, but they can also be seen in the Quaker context of non-violent resistance to violence and powers of authority.;Turrell's work responds to the Quaker allegory of a soul which inhabits a body. The Quakers believe in the divine light as an omnipresence existing in the entire universe as well as inside any human being. Turrell's goals, as he has often stated, are to create opportunities for viewers to experience the light inside as reflected in the light outside, as they form their own "experience of soul." In this context, Turrell's works can be considered a contemporary expression of a multi-faceted and open-ended Quaker practice, intended to bring the "cosmos closer.".
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
