James Turrell’s Roden Crater Student Projects
ASU launched an academic partnership in 2018 with the internationally acclaimed light and space artist James Turrell, placing Roden Crater at the center of learning and innovation. Roden Crater is an unprecedented large-scale artwork created within a volcanic cinder cone near Flagstaff in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona. Within this volcano, Turrell is sculpting discrete viewing spaces and chambers in which individuals may experience the light from celestial objects and observe the cosmos.
Based in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, ASU’s Roden Crater academic programs aim to provide educational experiences for learners of all ages. Field labs, design studios, internships, and virtual and embodied learning opportunities are designed by faculty working across ASU’s 17 colleges. This archive is dedicated to the preservation of the student projects created in the multi-disciplinary academic programs connected to Roden Crater.
Filtering by
- Creators: Ubhe, Aishwarya
- Creators: Weber, Eliza
Mixed media.
Spring 2019 Course: Indigenous Stories and Sky Science (taught by Wanda Dalla Costa)
Roden Crater is situated in the territorial homelands of at least eight Arizona tribes. To honor local history and the continued practice of Indigenous sky science in the southwest, the field lab Indigenous Stories and Sky Science will view the Crater through the lens of Indigeneity. The students, who went on a five-day journey to Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, meeting locals, interacting with place and touring sites of sky observation, shared their experience using the four knowledges of community resilience: empirical, traditional, revealed and contemporary (From Johnson, et al. (2015). Weaving Indigenous and sustainability sciences to diversify our methods).
Collected fallen palo verde blossoms.
Spring 2019 Course: Art and Sensory Acuity (taught by Christine Lee)
For the course Art and Sensory Acuity, we looked at how our perception and ability to experience a range of sensation can inform the creation of artistic and design based work. We explored perception through the lens of artist James Turrell’s Roden Crater, under which specific materials, environment, and conditions present, shaped our sensory experience. Concurrently we expanded our sensory acuity through engagement with guest speakers ASU Assoc. Professor Patrick Young and Assist. Professor Christy Spackman, Ed Krupp Director of Griffith Observatory, and writer Lawrence Weschler, to develop a deeper sensibility across media, time and space. The resulting sculptural forms/prototypes, performance, and installations were designed and constructed in response to the collective experience.