PRINTS
Turrell, James; Peter Blum Editions
U.S. (1943 - )
Alta
1989 - 1990
Aquatint on wove Zerkall paper
39 1/4 x 27 1/4 in. (100 x 69.2 cm) image size; 42 1/4 x 29 3/4 in. (107.3 x 75.6 cm) sheet size; 45 1/8 x 32 3/8 x 2 in. (114.6 x 82.2 x 5.1 cm) frame size
Given by the Henry Gallery Association, in honor of Kayla Skinner
FA 98.4

Perception and Ambiguity
James Turrell wants us to explore how our brains use pre-conscious strategies to construct our perceptions of the world from ambiguous information.
The brain quickly interprets the ambiguous white pyramid in Alta as seen either from above or from below. But, like the classic Necker Cube, the brain can then instantly flip its interpretation of the ambiguous sensory information. The contours of the very dark background resolve this ambiguity, but only if we look closely — it’s as if Turrell wants us to experience our brains wrestling with the ambiguity before showing us the resolution.

Turrell shows how the brain deals with another type of ambiguity in Enzu, akin to Escher’s impossible figures. The base of the figure appears to have both depth and width that extend upward but the top appears to have only width. The clash of the two interpretations is smoothed over in the middle of the figure. Perhaps Turrell is pointing out how the brain uses congruent local cues in preference to conflicting global cues in constructing our perceptions.

Turrell’s Shanta is the least ambiguous of these works but leads to the most improbable perception. The angles of the figure contours and the intersecting lines of the walls and floor lead to the interpretation that we are looking at the side of a white block, which is somehow attached halfway up the wall. Here, Turrell demonstrates the brain’s use of heuristics to construct perception, even when it leads to an improbable conclusion.

-- Steven Buck, Professor, Department of Psychology, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Washington.