Roden Crater
Flagstaff, AZ

Noted artist James Turrell, who has been working with light as an art form since graduating from the University of California in the mid 1960’s, has created one of his most ambitious works, spanning almost two decades, in this volcanic area located outside of Flagstaff, AZ. Turrell explains working with light as a medium:
“My works are about light in the sense that light is present and there; the works are made of light … light is not so much something that reveals, as the revelation itself.”

Using bulldozers, he has altered the volcano’s ring so that from within the bowl, the rim becomes the horizon and all that can be seen above is a sky dome. Considering the project’s magnitude as well as the time required to complete, this is perhaps the most ambitious art project ever to be completed by a single artist.

Open to the public in October of 2000, people can enter the underground concrete chambers linked by dimly lit corridors where they will witness astronomical events and immerse themselves in light from the sun, moon and stars – some of which as Turrell points out, will have taken more than 3 million years to get there.

BEGA is proud to have luminaires from our extensive offering of step lights chosen for this prestigious installation.