UIC Skyspace In Spring 2005, a spectacular public art project by acclaimed American artist James Turrell will open on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. UIC Skyspace, the project's working title, is the centerpiece of the newly built Gateway Plaza, also designed by Turrell, located on the university's South Campus and situated on the southwest corner of Halsted Street and Roosevelt Road in the heart of Chicago. The UIC Skypsace, Turrell's fifteenth permanent skyspace installation, will be the only freestanding structure of its kind in the Midwest.
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A serene observatory free and open to the public, UIC Skyspace takes the form of a thirty feet high by forty one feet wide elliptical chamber designed for viewing the complex interplay of sky, light and atmosphere. Visitors will be able to sit on benches lining the interior circumference of the skyspace. From that vantage point the focus of the skyspace will be the ten by sixteen feet opening piercing the roof of the chamber. The oculus in a Turrell skyspace frames the sky, obscuring the horizon and creating a "celestial vault," in which the sky and ceiling appear to be on the same plane. In UIC Skyspace translucent glass will encircle the upper portion of the structure, allowing soft natural light to bathe the interior of the structure. Outside, the lower portion of the skyspace will be surrounded by a cascade of flowing water, contributing to the overall tranquil character of the skyspace. |
The installation of UIC Skyspace will be celebrated by an exhibition of Turrell works at Gallery 400 of the university's College of Architecture and the Arts in September and October 2004 and a city-wide symposium on the spring equinox 2005 on aesthetic and scientific ideas related to the skyspace. |
| Turrell's skyspaces are installed in countries worldwide, including Italy, Israel, Belgium, Japan and the United States. They can be seen as products of his early Mendotta Stoppages, in which he explored the interaction between light and space in hotel rooms he had converted into pristine white shells. When viewed as preliminary studies for his massive Roden Crater project, Turrell's skyspaces are clearly reminiscent of ancient earth and astronomical installations, as well as environmental art and modern earthworks. Yet, too, Turrell's skyspaces can be understood in light of the artist's aeronautical, philosophical and psychological interests, topics Turrell pursued while a student at Pomona College, Claremont, California. |
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Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois |