James Turrell: Beyond Horizons 2025
Oelsnitz
Born in Los Angeles in 1943, the "sculptor of light" James Turrell dissolved the paradigm of the physical work of art with the principle of pictorial nothingness. Inspired by the bright sunlight and colours of California's coastal landscape, the artist developed his atmospheric approach of "light-and-space" minimalism as early as the 1960s. The artist's intention was to create art that sees the entire situation, including the surrounding space and the viewer's body, as integral components, as "one". In the 1980s, Turrell expanded his principles so radically with his now famous "Ganzfelder" that not only the need for a physical object was eliminated, but also that of perspective space. Instead of art objects to be viewed, the perceptual principles of light and colour themselves became the main theme of his works. In the fields of coloured light created in this way, situations devoid of hierarchy and direction emerged that seem to level everything out and interweave the experience of emotional qualities of light, space and time into a continuum.
This is reminiscent of the romantic vision of a "path to oneself", as formulated by the Freiberg mining academic and poet Novalis in a combination of science and poetry. in 1798, he published his pantheistic-philosophical text of magical idealism "Blüthenstaub" in the journal "Athenäum" and formulated the Romantic slogan: "The mysterious path leads inwards. Within us, or nowhere, is eternity with its worlds, the past and the future."
The Oelsnitz Ganzfeld "Beyond Horizons 2025" consists of a sequence of twelve colour spaces, each of which dissolves into a stroboscopic thunderstorm and thus explodes the boundaries of perception. Turrell's light room is integrated into an outer shell made of Corten steel, which is surrounded by the restored steel frame of the former forge of the Oelsnitz mining company, painted in a vibrant green colour. The three-aisled industrial architecture, transformed by the regional office H2 ARCHITEKTUR by hendrik heine, interacts with Turrell's "Beyond Horizons 2025" to create a radically new interpretation of monument protection and thus an ambiguous Gesamtkunstwerk.
(Text: Alexander Ochs / Ulrike Pennewitz)
James Turrell
Beyond Horizons 2025
from the series Ganzfeld
Admission only after prior ticket booking:
Time slot tickets for December 2025 can be booked via the online ticket shop.
Tickets for the period from January 2026 and further details will be announced shortly.
The number of visitors is limited to around ten people per time slot to enable an intense experience of light and space.
On the first Wednesday of every month, visitors have the opportunity to book a free time slot in the mornings.
analogue to the opening hours of the Museum KohleWelt:
- Monday: closed (except on national holidays)
- Tuesday to Sunday: 10:00 - 17:00
- closed on 24 and 31 December
- Due to ongoing work on the lift system, the artwork is not fully accessible for the time being. After completion, barrier-free access to the artwork will be guaranteed.
- At the end of the exhibition space there is a fall edge that is not visually marked and is difficult to see depending on the light and visibility conditions.
- Access to the artwork with walking aids is not permitted. Visitors with reduced mobility can borrow a wheelchair on request. Covers are available for wheelchairs and walking frames to protect the floor of the artwork. Without these, wheelchairs and walking frames may not be taken into the artwork.
- The light installation contains stroboscopic effects that can trigger epileptic seizures at certain flash frequencies. People with epilepsy or at risk of epilepsy should stay away from the stroboscopic lighting areas.
- Further information on accessibility can be found in the house and visitor regulations:
to the house and visitor regulations of Oelsnitz/Erzgeb.
KohleWelt - Museum of Coal Mining Saxony
Pflockenstr. 28
09376 Oelsnitz/Erzgeb.
Unique experience
Anyone who enters "Beyond Horizons 2025" becomes part of the light. To ensure the intensity of the experience, the number of visitors per time slot is limited to around ten people. The feeling of time and space dissolves in a shadowless environment - silent, intense, unforgettable. The work is unique in Saxony and Germany - due to its size as well as in combination with the impressive remodelled industrial hall as an exhibition venue.
The Ganzfeld "Beyond Horizons 2025"
James Turrell's "Ganzfeld" work type refers to immersive light installations in which homogeneous, coloured light and the absence of visual boundaries create a complete dissolution of spatial orientation. The term "Ganzfeld" ("whole field" or "Ganzes Feld") originates from the psychology of perception and describes a state in which the eye no longer perceives any differences or depth information. Turrell uses this principle to make seeing itself a sensual and meditative experience and to fundamentally change the perception of light and space.
Light meets industrial culture
The walk-in light installation is located on the site of the former Karl Liebknecht Shaft in Hall 18. The three-aisled industrial hall, which was redesigned for this purpose by H2 ARCHITEKTUR by hendrik heine from Lichtenstein, represents a completely new form of monument preservation: the historic steel skeleton was removed, restored and re-erected together with the crane runway. The restored steel skeleton now encloses Turrell's fascinating world of light - a space in which colour, space and perception flow into one another.
With the kind support of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe and Volksbank Chemnitz eG
