ABOUT / SYNOPSIS

JAMES TURRELL, A LEADING AMERICAN LAND ART FIGURE

A former pilot, James TURRELL sees the sky as his studio. With «MEETING», based on an enclosed room open to the sky, he began a series of works making distinctive use of natural light and space. «RODEN CRATER», his masterwork, revolves around an extinct volcano he bought in the Painted Desert in Arizona, home of the Pueblo Indians. There he has set out to create an «OBSERVATORY» of light coming from the sky, thus forging a spiritual link with the Hopi people.

PASSAGEWAYS FILM, A UNIQUE SENSORY EXPERIENCE OF JAMES TURRELL’S SKYSPACE “MEETING” AND OF THE LANDSCAPE SURROUNDING HIS MASTERPIECE “RODEN CRATER”

PASSAGEWAYS provides a unique sensory experience: that of the skyspace «MEETING», filmed from inside. The use of the frame by frame process, chosen by Carine ASSCHER , allows the viewer to experience the effects of light characteristic of the TURRELL œuvre.

THE HOPI COSMOGONY AND JAMES TURRELL’S ARTISTIC AGENDA

In other spectacular images shot in Arizona’s volcanic PAINTED DESERT region, the voice of James TURRELL resounds between crater, sky and desert as he overflies in his plane. He speaks of his formal research into light – his visual quest – and his friendship with the Hopi people and Gene SEKAQUAPTEWA, chief of the Eagles clan.

PASSAGEWAYS.film is an introduction to the work of James TURRELL. It calls on the viewer to delve deeper into the oeuvre and its origins in the meeting between the Hopi cosmogony and an artistic agenda.