James Turrell

I just went to see 'Bindu Shards - Perceptual Cell' by the veteran American light artist James Turrell. It's the greatest piece of art I've seen in many years, equalled only by the tiny painting 'Leaf' by Howard Hodgkin.
Have a look: http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2010-10-13_james-turrell/

The piece is impossible to describe, one lays on a trolley and is pushed into a giant sphere, like having an MRI. The door closes and lights and sounds begin. What each person sees and experiences would be totally different. Even when I closed my eyes the lights and shapes continued. The work really addressed me as a human, a person with a body, eyes with retinas, a brain with its own ways of perceiving. so much art would be the smae if one looked at a reproduction, or looked through a camera at it, or filmed it on video: not possible here. At times I was floating in space, at other times, acutely aware of my mass, and astounded by colour and shape I had never seen before. It is fully booked out for the duration of the show. I am so glad I booked for myself and two friends. More later...