"Knight Rise" a skyspace by James Turrell at SMoCA

Photo by spa.contactdesigns.com

Take a trip to Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) to visit Knight Rise by the installation artist James Turrell.  Located in the sculpture garden, an oval room, built by architect Will Bruder, mimics the oval "skyspace."  Sit on the concrete bench and relax.  Turrell is known as a light and space artist, but his work requires the element of time.  The average viewer may spend as little as four seconds looking at a piece of art, 30 seconds for important pieces.  If you breeze by a Turrell, you will be underwhelmed.  Over time, this oval oculus reveals the changing sky and ambient light which varies dramatically from time of day and time of year.  View it at different times of day, as SMoCA is open Thursday (free), Friday and Saturday evenings until 9 p.m. to experience the night sky.  Through his study of psychology, Turrell offers opportunities to play with perception through his art, all of which takes time.  "Knight Rise" may have multiple meanings to you; however, it is named after the director of SMoCA in 1999, Dr. Robert Knight.  Check out other Turrell installations such as the one located in the Great Hall at the Phoenix Art Museum,  Mohl ip, a 10'X20' neon light installation which gradually changes hues as you continue to observe.  Or look for Turrell's Roden Crater, an on-going project in Flagstaff where he has purchased a volcanic crater that he is turning into a large, naked-eye observatory.