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James Turrell: Ganzfeld “Aural”

Known in Berlin for his neon-light installation in the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery, and outside the art world for inspiring Drake’s 2015 Hotline Bling video, American light artist James Turrell presents a commissioned installation at the Jewish Museum.

Image for James Turrell: Ganzfeld “Aural”

James Turell, Florian Holzherr

Known in Berlin for his neon-light installation in the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery, and outside the art world for inspiring Drake’s 2015 Hotline Bling video, American light artist James Turrell presents a newly commissioned installation at the Jewish Museum. Located next to the fragrant wisteria in the museum’s garden, visitors enter a metal shed-like building and wait their turn. Slippered invigilators will ask you to remove your shoes and wear blue disposable plastic feet covers before you ascend the felted staircase leading into the installation: a square room filled with diffused pastel coloured light. The effect is like stepping into a sci-fi fog, disorienting, mysterious and beautiful all at the same time. The purples, pinks, blues and bright white light fill the room in gradual and flashing sequences, countering the sense of danger as the room ominously slopes away to a sheer drop. Apart from the geometric panels around the doorway, there is no indication where the light is coming from. The ethereal effect of the installation is somewhat disturbed by the sound of people battling with rustling feet covers and invigilators talking to visitors, but if you get a quiet moment to draw it all in, it’s quite something.

Through Sep 30