James Turrell – The Next Level/Skyspace, 2025

"I met James Turrell at a dinner party back in 2017, and of course we talked about his preoccupation with light. In recent years, I have followed the project The Next Level with avid interest. It’s such a powerful, yet simple project that I already know how I’m going to feel about it when it’s finished.

I can already imagine the catacomb-like experience of sitting with other people in an underground room, looking up at the sky through a small skylight. I see it as an orchestrated space for a unifying experience you wouldn’t otherwise get. In that sense, the work does not take on a definitive form – it is something you have to feel. It’s about setting people free, and I can feel that already.

It’s about a sense of space and community rather than about analysing an oil painting.

The artwork will provide an experience, but perhaps it’s even more interesting to note how the project is in fact already providing experiences. People already respond and relate to it as they pass it while taking their dog out for a walk. You will find a greater range of attitudes towards such a work of art at this stage than when it is actually finished, because right now all possibilities remain open. The construction stage of the work is full of dreams and tension, while the work becomes static and definitive when completed."

The work is on display at level 4