Refiguring the Spiritual by Taylor Mark C

Author:Taylor, Mark C.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2012-02-06T16:00:00+00:00

Figure 4.4 James Turrell, Roden Crater, Keyhole with Stairs

Figure 4.5 James Turrell, Roden Crater, East Portal High

The Sun and Moon Room is connected to the crater’s second opening by a finely crafted red sandstone tunnel that recalls both subterranean labyrinths at the base of pyramids and the networks of tunnels beneath desert anthills. The second opening (eighteen feet in diameter) is located in the eye of the volcano, at the precise point where the primary eruption occurred. The dark passageway opens into an exquisitely designed and executed circular room, approximately forty-two feet in diameter and twenty-five feet high. In the center of the room there is a circle of black lava sand precisely raked exactly like the sand circle at the base of the tunnel. This circle, which shadows the eighteen-foot oculus in the ceiling, is surrounded by a red granite floor and a rust-colored sandstone bench curved along the circular wall. The precise proportions and exquisite finish of this room create a sense of serenity that sharpens all the senses.

A second tunnel wraps around the exterior of the central chamber and leads outside to the bowl of the crater (Fig. 4.6). Viewed from the crater’s interior edge, the elliptical and circular openings appear to be finely crafted sculptures resembling two huge eyes cast heavenward. The side of the central oculus consists of a beautiful red sandstone drywall constructed by traditional Navajo craftsmen. At the four compass points along the wall, there are white benches that extend outward and slope gently downward (Fig. 4.7). The angle of these benches is calibrated to make possible the experience of celestial vaulting. When you lie on the bench and tilt your head backward until you see the rim, the perception of depth suddenly disappears and the sky appears to be a dome or vault enclosing the volcano. Explaining why he chose Roden Crater for his life’s work, Turrell describes the phenomenon he first experienced when flying his small plane over the desert Southwest:

I looked for a space that was at least 400 to 600 feet above the surface of the earth, because at that point when you fly or when you stand on a mouth that’s above a plane, the earth seems to curve the wrong way. I wanted to make this experience of sky and the celestial vaulting. Then when you went up to the edge, you were in the space that seemed to be curving overhead. But then you saw this reverse curving underneath you. Vaulting is actually an art history term. Celestial vaulting is a term that refers to how the sky was depicted. You notice sometimes children will paint the sky as a curve. They’re correct in the sense that we do see shaping to the sky. That means that there are conditions that change if we change ourselves, or if I change you, I can change the context or shaping. So that this form is something we give it. We’re not aware that we give the sky its color and we give it its shape.

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