In the current issue of Wallpaper* (W139), our Editor-at-Large Sophie Lovell meets the artist James Turrell. Born in California in 1943, he has been working with light and optical phenomena since the 1960s, with the precision of a scientist, the lyricism of a poet and the zeal of a visionary.
With several projects currently in the running, including, a huge Skyspace at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and a Mayan-style pyramid in Mexico for a private collector, Turrell has got two London projects up his sleeve, coinciding with this year's Frieze Art Fair.
One is a new Ganzfeld sphere that allows you to 'see' colours inside your head at the Gagosian Gallery (see our article and details on how you can experience the installation first hand) and the other is One Hyde Park (or One Hyde Park: The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, to give it its full title)
One Hyde Park is a large residential building on the edge of the famous London park. The architects are Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and the interior design is by London-based team Candy & Candy, who asked Turrell to come up with a unified light concept that would interact with the architecture.
'I like extending the life of the buildings into the night. With light, you can bring out characteristics of the architecture that you may not have seen during the day,' Turrell explains.
For Lovell's full interview with the artist you will have to turn to the magazine, but here at wallpaper.com, with the benefit of video, we've put together our own little animation of Turrell as a teaser till the real thing, set to open at the end of next month.