Crazy lines for non-ticket buyers and when you get in, still yet more lines to see some of the works upstairs. Idiots in the way, because they HAD to get up into the light in order to grasp the fact that they were not going to hear the angels sing— oh well, New York LOVES these site specific interactive things like a hillbilly loves monster trucks.
Remember Central Park draped in “saffron” by Christo? They loved it! And that, even though actually being IN Christo’s Gates was not really immersive since only the most dramatic and well-composed photos really captured any of the drama. If you invite the layest of lay peeps to walk around inside of something, they’re in.
That said, Aten Reign, given half a chance— and by that, I mean shrugging off the annoyance at one’s ill-behaved peers and keeping still— will prove to be truly immersive. Turrell calls it “non-vicarious” because you can’t “get it” by looking on, but only by climbing in and inhabiting the work.
Do that, and you experience something. The mermaids will not call to you, and you will not get sucked up into the heavens, but when you exit, the sunlight will seem like something to pay attention to. Vermeers will reveal new charm. Edges will be hard to find and your friends’ faces will be lovely.
See The Guggenheim’s James Turrell Video
James Turell: Aten Reign and early works
June 21–September 25, 2013
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89th Street)
New York, NY 10128-0173
Purchase tickets
The Art Machine 