Pallas lift design award / a mighty big, artistic hole in the ground / more helpful sunsets (Monday 3 December 2007)
An ICAD gold award for 'Pallas Heights 2003-2006'
compiled by Solenne Schmit
On 22 November, the bestowing of the 2007 ICAD Best of Irish Advertising and Design Awards took place in Liberty Hall, Dublin . Pallas Heights 2003-2006 received the gold award in the 'Graphic Design / Newspaper, Magazine, Periodical and Book' category. Designed by Atelier David Smith, the book had supporting funding from Dublin City Council and the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
It is a 160-page colour book about the contemporary art space Pallas Heights, which was in Sean Tracey House, Buckingham Street, Dublin 1, and which closed in 2006-2007. The book documents all the exhibitions which were held there, but also includes newly commissioned artworks and and feature essays by Lucy Cotter and Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith, plus an interview with Paul O'Neil.
Pallas Heights 2003-2006 is available to purchase at the new Pallas gallery - Pallas Contemporary Projects, 111 Grangegorman Road in Dublin 7. It also can be found in gallery bookshops, the Serpantine and ICA London.
Source: www.pallasheights.org; http://www.icad.ie/event_awards07.php; www.pallasprojects.org
Turrell's crater
compiled by Marthe Leach
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| The Roden Crater from afar. Image held here |
7,000 feet up in the air, 70 kilometres north of Flagstaff, Arizona, right in the heart of the Painted Desert of Arizona, lies a giant, extinct volcanic crater. This crater has been the site of James Turrell’s thirty-plus-year ongoing project, hyped as the next wonder of the world. Just like Stonehenge, as well as the nearby Grand Canyon, Turrell’s Roden Crater has gotten the attention of people all around the world. However, it is not yet open to the public.
Turrell spotted the crater from an airplane over three decades ago, purchased it, and began turning it into a piece of art, complete with viewing chambers, a giant bronze staircase leading to the sky, and a plethora of tunnels traversing the area. The Roden Crater is set to be open to the public in 2011. Because it has been such a long time coming, with many original opening dates cancelled, some art experts speculate that the crater will be finished only upon Turrell’s death.
A few lucky people have gotten a first look at the crater, some by invitation and some by tresspass. Photos have been posted on the picture-sharing website flicker.com by some of those who managed to get a peek. As of now, only Turrell’s financial backers can secure an invitation to the crater.
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| A picture of one of Turrell's keyholes, taken by someone who snuck in to see the crater. Image held here |
This is to be Turrell’s magnum opus. Known best for his work with light and space, the Roden Crater, which upon completion will be the world’s largest piece of sculptural art, mimics many of the qualities of his past pieces. There will be seven sky-lit spaces, forming a large observatory that uses natural light. He has previously done several sky or nature viewing spaces, some temporarily set up to view one event, such as The Elliptic ecliptic in Cornwall, and others set up permanently such as the Irish sky garden at Liss Ard Estate in Co. Cork.
As the opening date for the crater draws nearer, it has been getting more attention. Until it officially opens, the public will have to make do with the works Turrell has on display already, or risk a long, dangerous trek across the desert and hope to sneak a look over the fences.
Paintings give evidence of climate change
Something as simple as a sunset can hold a lot of information. Following large volcanic erruptions, sunsets tend to be more red because of the polution in the air. A sunset can, depending on the amount of red and green, signify the level of polution. Sunsets over time show the change in climate. A group of scientist, for lack of photographs, have decided to study a wide range of paintings of sunsets created around the times of volcanic activity, in order to measure the pollution in the air at the time and better their calculations of climate change. However, some warn that a painter may have depicted the sunset in an aesthetically pleasing way, rather than documenting it as it truly was. John Thorne, a professor of Atmospheric Meteorology at the University of Birmingham, who is not connected to the study, claims this is of no consequence. The wide range of paintings by many different artists that are being studied should make up for one artist's liberties.
So far, the group has studied 554 sunset paintings, including 54 that were painted within three years after a major volcanic erruption. The volcanic sunset group includes paintings by J.M.W. Turner, Edgar Degas, Claude Lorrain, and Gustav Klimt.
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