The legendary artist’s 100th Skyspace transforms the simple act of looking at the sky into an immersive experience of light and color.
A Monumental New Addition To The Skyspace Series
James Turrell has unveiled “As Seen Below – The Dome” at the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in Denmark, marking both the largest installation in his celebrated Skyspace series and its 100th entry. Measuring 16 meters tall and 40 meters in diameter, the monumental work serves as the centerpiece of the museum’s new expansion designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen.
Hidden beneath a grassy hill in the museum park, visitors descend through a corridor connected to the main building before emerging into the vast subterranean chamber. The installation continues Turrell’s decades long exploration of light, perception, and the relationship between viewers and the natural world.
Light Becomes The Artwork
Like previous Skyspaces, “As Seen Below – The Dome” transforms sky gazing into a sensory experience. More than 1,100 LED lights bathe the interior in shifting colors, altering the viewer’s perception of the sky visible through the dome’s circular opening overhead.
For the Danish installation, Turrell drew inspiration from Scandinavia’s Northern Lights, using their constantly changing hues to create ethereal environments during sunrise and sunset. Rather than using light to illuminate objects, the artist continues his pursuit of making light itself the subject.
As Turrell explains, his fascination lies in experiencing the “thingness” of light, allowing viewers to feel immersed within it rather than simply observing it.
A New Landmark For ARoS Aarhus
The installation inaugurates ARoS Aarhus Art Museum’s new expansion and further cements Turrell’s legacy as one of contemporary art’s foremost masters of perception. More than five decades after launching the Skyspace series, his work continues to captivate audiences around the world.
Now open to the public in Denmark, “As Seen Below – The Dome” offers visitors a surreal encounter where architecture, color, and the sky itself merge into a single experience.
