Tilted Plane (*Retired)
By James Turrell
Category: Miscellaneous
About
** This piece is no longer on display. Please see our Retired Public Art Installations page for more information.
The green space adjacent to the Grandel Theatre is home to a subtle piece of land art entitled Tilted Plane. Designed by the artist James Turrell, Tilted Plane is an earthwork comprised of two triangles of grass that gently slope upward from the corner of Grand and Grandel Square. The viewer can walk across the top of the work or through the work via the sidewalk that cuts it in half diagonally. In Tilted Plane, Turrell explores light and space in order to create a spiritual awakening of sorts in each viewer, who sees the work differently.
Dimensions: 6′ x 35′ x 25′
Year Completed: 1990
Material: Environmental earthwork – angled lawn area
Owner: Grand Center
About the artist:
James Turrell
b. 1943
Born in Los Angeles in 1943, Turrell received an MFA from the Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California. Perhaps best known for his site-specific work Roden Crater in Arizona, Turrell intends his work to inspire the viewer to meditate on what they are seeing and silently contemplate the atmosphere of the work. Turrell focuses on the specific location of each work and harnessing the environment where each exists in order to draw attention to the place itself. In some respects, his work deals with the art of creating an experience for the viewer. His Quaker faith inspires him to create straightforward artworks that expose the sublime nature of the world and that reveal the phenomena of light that alludes to the divine.
