{"id":2450631,"date":"2019-11-01T09:05:21","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T15:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=904893"},"modified":"2019-11-01T09:05:21","modified_gmt":"2019-11-01T15:05:21","slug":"beginning-to-see-the-light-kanye-wests-fascination-with-james-turrell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/beginning-to-see-the-light-kanye-wests-fascination-with-james-turrell\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginning to See the Light: Kanye West\u2019s Fascination With James Turrell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kanye West<\/a>\u2019s new IMAX film, Jesus is King, <\/i>is set in a massive art installation in Arizona\u2019s Painted Desert \u2014 a defunct volcano that\u2019s been artist James Turrell\u2019s white whale for the last 40 years.<\/p>\n

Turrell has spent decades transforming Roden Crater<\/a> into a massive installation \u2014 21 viewing spaces connected by six tunnels \u2014 but even after all this time it\u2019s still incomplete and not yet open to the public. In January, West donated $10 million<\/a> to help finish the project, and now he\u2019s scooped the art world and produced one of the most comprehensive looks at Turrell\u2019s greatest work to date.<\/p>\n

West\u2019s affection for and affiliation with Turrell surfaced publicly last December when the rapper revealed his first pilgrimage<\/a> to Roden Crater. A few days later, he was taking conference calls<\/a> with Turrell and architect Norman Foster. By the end of the month, he was at<\/a> the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, standing beside Turrell, smiling, inside a piece called \u201cPerfectly Clear,\u201d a two-story room so drenched in magenta it\u2019s unclear where the walls, floor, ceiling end or begin. Soon, West was donating millions of dollars to Roden Crater, which could finally open to the public in the next five years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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“You finally got me here, bro.”
\u2014 @kanyewest<\/a> to James Turrell this morning pic.twitter.com\/HNlxhFG0GJ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MASS MoCA (@MASS_MoCA) December 27, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

West hasn\u2019t really spoken about what draws him to Turrell\u2019s work (then again, no one who\u2019s interviewed him recently has really asked), but the appeal is surely multi-faceted. West is obviously hyper-attuned to the visuals that accompany his music and knows how to recognize a perfect vibe and tailor it to his needs. Plus, he and Turrell are both highly particular artists who often miss deadlines in their pursuit for perfection; Roden Crater was set to open years ago.<\/p>\n

Turrell\u2019s manipulation of space and light might also appeal to West\u2019s let\u2019s-just-call-it ambitious plan to solve affordable housing<\/a> (\u201cWe all will live in Turrell spaces,\u201d he tweeted<\/a> after visiting Roden Crater for the first time). And it\u2019s also possible that the way Turrell cultivates color \u2014 almost as if it\u2019s emanating not around you but from within you \u2014 resonates in a uniquely profound way for West, who has synesthesia<\/a>, a neurological condition where he sees sounds as various colors.<\/p>\n

But at this moment in West\u2019s life and career, his fascination with Turrell has to be viewed through his deep Christian faith and embrace of gospel music. The Jesus Is King <\/i>film accompanies West\u2019s new album<\/a> of the same name, although it only features a few songs from the album alongside traditional gospel numbers and reinterpretations of old West tracks. West is barely in it, although obviously he\u2019s the driving creative force.<\/p>\n

Instead, Jesus Is King<\/em> is a showcase for his Sunday Service choir, but also Roden Crater. The two make a potent combo: a top-notch gospel choir, dressed in loose brown outfits, singing, testifying and praising in these wide, round rooms cut with gaping skylights.<\/p>\n

\u201c[West] would tell us about it, he had been several times,\u201d Sunday Service choir director Jason White tells Rolling Stone<\/i>. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what we were walking into; we just followed him. Playing in those unique rooms, we could hear the sound, the reverberation from those walls. Being in that room, looking into the sky, it was straight up heavenly.\u201d<\/p>\n