Younger Children

James Turrell

American, born 1943

The Color Inside

2013

Subject: Color
Activity: Experiment with primary colors to create new colors
Materials: Paper; red, yellow, and blue pencils or crayons
Vocabulary: Primary colors, spectrum

Introduction:

Light program visit: Color is one of the basic elements of art. Using only the three primary colors an artist can create a limitless spectrum of colors. James Turrell uses colorful light to change the way we see. In the Skyspace, colored lights shine on the walls to change the way our eyes see the color of the sky through the opening in the roof.

Daytime visit: If you visit the Skyspace during the day and are not able to see the colored lights, think about the way the opening in the roof changes how you see the sky. Many artists use paint or clay to create works of art. James Turrell uses light in his art. In the Skyspace there is an opening in the roof that frames the sky and lets natural light into the space.

Questions:

Light program visit:
What colors do you see in the Skyspace?

How do the different colors make you feel?

What else do you see when you look up?

Do you see birds or shapes in the clouds?

Daytime visit:
What do you see when looking through the opening in the roof?

How does it make you feel to be in a room where you can see the sky?

What else do you see when you look up?

Do you see birds or shapes in the clouds?

Activity:

Light program visit:
Draw three solid circles, one red, one yellow, and one blue. Color over each circle with a different color, like red over yellow. What new colors do you see? See how many new colors you can create using the primary colors.

Daytime visit:
Draw a circle on a piece of paper. Cut out the circle using scissors. Hold the paper up to the sky and observe how the sky changes by looking through the circle.

Vocabulary:

Primary colors – red, yellow, and blue, which can be mixed together to make all other colors
Spectrum – a variety of colors, arranged in order as seen in a rainbow

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