James Turrell

Don't tell my husband, but I don't consider our honeymoon to be our official honeymoon. Our official honeymoon will be when we finally get to see James Turrell's Roden Crater. James Turrell uses light as his medium, creating bizarre, illusionistic pieces that are dependent on the perception of the viewer. So in a sense, he also uses perception as a medium. He makes smaller pieces that fit into museums and gallery spaces, but his ultimate feat is the Roden Crater. Roden Crater is an extinct volcano located in the desert a few miles outside of Flagstaff, AZ that Turrell bought in the 1970s and has been converting into a gigantic light exhibit for the past 40 or so years. The volcano consists of multiple compartments, co-designed by an astronomer friend of Turrell's, that each harness the light of the desert in various ways. One compartment makes visible light that is older than our solar system, another allows the viewer to perceive the rotation of the earth, and another gives a perfect view of the moon once every 18 years. A-MA-ZING! The crater is on the verge of completion and is projected to open to the public some time this spring or summer. Although this remains to be seen, the time frame has changed multiple times in the last few years and the public opening keeps getting pushed back. But I can tell you this: when it does open, I am dropping everything and hauling my family to Flagstaff to witness the splendor!!!!!!!!!

http://www.flickriver.com/groups/rodencrater/pool/interesting/