A biography for James Turrellhasn’t been written yet.
“The Quakers don't believe in music or art; they think it's a vanity.”
“I want to create an atmosphere that can be consciously plumbed with seeing... like the wordless thought that comes from looking in a fire.”
“The cardones cactus is very similar to saguaro cactus in Arizona. These cacti only grow in very specific, particular places.”
“Light knows when you're looking at it.”
“Sometimes I'm kind of cranky coming to see something. I saw the Mona Lisa when it was in L.A., saw it for 13 seconds and had to move on.”
“There are very few religious experiences that aren't explained using the vocabulary of light.”
“I sell blue sky and coloured air.”
“I like illusion when it is so convincing that we might as well see reality this way - I like to present to our belief system something that is convincing, that 'we know not to be.'”
“It's really terrific to see Pittsburgh recognize the Mattress Factory.”
“I don't think my work is about the spiritual life, but it certainly touches on it.”
“I look at light as a material. It is physical. It is photons. Yes, it exhibits wave behavior, but it is a thing.”
“There is an idea, first of all, of vision fully formed with the eyes closed. Of course the vision we have in a lucid dream often has greater lucidity and clarity than vision with the eyes open.”
“Planets' orbits are elliptical. It's a very pleasing shape.”
“I like to use light as a material, but my medium is actually perception. I want you to sense yourself sensing - to see yourself seeing.”
“We live within this reality we create, and we're quite unaware of how we create the reality.”
“I come from a family that does not believe in art to this day. They think art is vanity.”
“I don't want you looking at the light fixture; I want you looking at where light goes. But more than that, I'm interested in the effect of light upon you and your perceptions.”
“This idea that light plays an important part in our life is important to me.”
“We're part of creating this world in which we live, but we're unaware of how we do that or even that we do that.”
“My mother did not have a toaster oven and would toast bread in the oven, which I thought was stupid. They didn't do cars and electricity, that kind of stuff.”