Last time, The Kick-About was inspired by Semper Augustus—a tulip prized for its beauty and mystery. This week, we turn to another master of allure: James Turrell, who works not with petals but with perception itself. His art of light and space invites us to pause, look longer, and notice the quiet drama of illumination. As always, these are new works made in a short time—and for all previous editions of The Kick-About, go here.
Graeme Daly
“I adore James Turrell’s use of light and colour! I wanted to create something analogue with my hands so what you are looking at here is a cardboard box with shapes cut out and lit with some Christmas lights! A very quick and effective response to this week’s prompt—which I loved”
@graemedalyart / vimeo.com/graemedaly / linkedin.com/in/graeme-daly / twitter.com/Graeme_Daly / gentlegiant.ie
Jan Blake
“I loved watching the videos of James Turrell talking about his work. I remember entering one of his installations at the Hayward in London years ago and sitting, watching the subtle changes for ages. I’ve always been fascinated by light—how it passes through things, revealing different qualities and atmospheres. That interest has been with me since childhood, watching light shift across the walls in my bedroom. Then later, into the theatrical space… I think that sense of drama still lingers in this study I took through the cardboard. However, it’s never been as subtle and nuanced as Turrell’s!“
Phil Gomm
“These Turrell-inspired images were deceptively simple to make; the forms are 2D shapes imported, ‘clip-art style’, from boring old Powerpoint (Yawn!). The shapes themselves were given an internal ‘shadow’ effect to produce the illusion of volume. Then, in Premiere Pro (video editing software), a fake light source was installed behind the flat shape to produce the illusion of space.”
philgomm.com / behance.net/Phil_Gomm
Vanessa Clegg
“This was a challenge and required a great deal of contortion as I balanced a piece of polystyrene with a cut out hole and a yellow filter placed over that balanced between a chair and a table with a gap of 9” between the legs to wiggle through on my back, hold up the iPad and get the photo! What I based it on was the stunning ‘room’ Turrell created with a hole in the ceiling, so that the sky was framed in a white surround… so viewed lying down. Mine was in my studio looking at the bare bulb. Bit crude in its execution but reminded me of what it might be like looking out of a hole in the snow or an igloo at various stages of the day.“
vanessaclegg.co.uk / vanillaclegg
Charly Skilling
“I have always found the quiet, considered contemplation—so central to the Quaker form of worship—very appealing, and James Turrell’s work exemplifies this tradition. I have tried to capture a little of this tranquillity in crochet, with simple, repetitive shapes and harmonious colours. If nothing else, the working of this piece was certainly an exercise in ‘mindfulness’.”
Lewis Punton
I have an incredibly vivid memory of my mum and I sitting across from my year 8 art teacher one parents evening as she declared that I, Lewis, was petrified of using colour. That memory has always stuck with me, mainly because she was absolutely right. To this day I have a real fear of completely butchering a piece of work that I’ve just spent hours pouring over with a dreaded splash of colour. So when the work of James Turrell provided a golden opportunity to face that fear, I decided to tackle it head on.
I started this commitment to battling my aversion to working in colour by conducting a series of lunch-hour iPhone experiments. Taking a sheet of reflective card, slicing into it with a trusty craft knife in order to create a series of interesting angles, before folding it up to make mini Turrell style instillations housed atop a screen projecting a range of vibrant colours.
Fairly happy with the output (particularly with those that feel most like a light source being beamed through a winding tunnel or burrow), I decided to push the experiments a step further. This time working with a larger, moving light source, and more angular pieces of card, all in hopes of finding something a little more cinematic and textured.
Sometimes, the wheels just start turning; and in true Kick-About fashion I managed to produce quite a lot of work in a short space of time. This prompt in particular has reminded me of exactly why I started taking part in this fortnightly creative jamboree; to experiment with new ways of working in a space that celebrates the ‘making of’ a thing above all else!“
Kerfe Roig
“My sister-in-law gave me a tiny accordion book a while ago which I immediately filled with ensōs. But I was not sure what else to do with them. Turrell’s circles of light fit them perfectly. I was also intrigued by his structures, and did a few collages inspired by them. I’m sure I will return to this idea in the future as it is reminiscent of the shadow collages I’ve been doing. And a little poetic commentary.”
lucent
light shadows time
in sky language
vesseled with stars–
to ask is to wonder
to wonder is to dream
to dream is to fly
kblog.blog / methodtwomadness.wordpress.com
James Randall
“So I knew of James Turrell and jumped in with a layer on layer approach to an image of a slit into a void which created a pleasant outcome. It made me jump to create a portal to another world – and after taking a few street pics of textures I came up with a grungy-er approach to a portal device. A third image evolved from this one which was a layered abstract version of the previous iteration. Lots of fun – made me question Turrell’s root meaning by the end.”
Ashley
“When I was opening the vertical blinds in our sunny bedroom, the effect of the bright sunshine streaming through the blinds triggered something in my memory of one of Turrell’s artworks. That was my starting point, although something else I’d read about him also slipped subconsciously into my own artwork. For decades, Turrell has been constructing a “naked-eye” observatory—in an extinct cinder cone volcano! I can’t ignore a reference to James Turrell about being the “master of light” without including the following video: Electric Light Orchestra’s 1977 hit song Mr. Blue Sky but illustrated in 2019 in a brilliantly colourful video!”
And, for our next prompt, the artist Lee Krasner…
Red's Kingdom 
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