James Turrell

photograph and text by TODD COLE   Light is a primal intoxicant. Many artists recognize this and choose light as their medium. Olafur Eliasson, Dan Flavin, and James Turrell are among my favorites. Turrell created his epic work, Roden Crater, at the edge of the Painted Desert in Arizona. The artist set out to make visitors to this work physically aware that light is the basis of energy, of existence itself, and that light originates from stars like our sun and is reflected by the moon and other celestial bodies. Turrell’s Roden Crater conveys the physicality of light, revealing its central creative force.