VIENNA, AUSTRIA.- “MAKlite”, a unique permanent light installation by American artist James Turrell, will provide the MAK with a new dimension of visibility. As of November 23, 2004, the building on Vienna’s Stubenring is radiant with a light from within which also accentuates the overall architectural impression. This unparalleled concept was developed by Turrell together with MAK director Peter Noever already in 1998 on the occasion of the Turrell exhibition at the MAK entitled “the other horizon”. The technology for the project was developed by the Florence-based architectural lighting specialist Targetti, whose “Targetti Light Art Collection” will be presented, concurrently with the inauguration of “MAKlite”, in the exhibition “MEHR LICHT. Targetti Light Art Collection at MAK” in the MAK Upper Floor Exhibition Hall.

“MAKlite” is the consistent reaffirmation of the positioning of the MAK between tradition and experimentation. Opened 1871 as the first museum building on Vienna’s Ringstrasse after a design by Heinrich von Ferstel in the style of the Florentine Renaissance, the MAK combines in a unique manner the preservation of the cultural heritage with openness to contemporary trends in art and architecture. In the sense of a modern ioconography, James Turrell articulates the MAK’s mission as a cultural institution and its architecture. James Turrell’s installation will illuminate the window openings with an even intensive light. At the same time, lights pulsating in different colors precisely determined by Turrell will be running all around the wing, starting from the central risalite so as to break up the static massiveness of the brickwork façade. This radiance coming from inside is the exact opposite of traditional building lighting with floodlights and hence represents a genuinely architectural intervention. The MAK installation with its special approach that is typical of Turrell’s work thus affords the viewer a twofold experience of reality and virtuality.

James Turrell is considered one of the most important artists of our time. Through his lifelong exploration of the phenomenon of light, he has been able to overcome object-dependent materiality in blending reality and virtuality. With his Roden Crater project, one of the most ambitious land-art projects worldwide in an extinct volcano in the vastness of the Arizona desert, Turrell virtually touches on the boundary to metaphysics. The MAK will pay a special tribute to Turrell on the occasion: concurrently with the MAK Façade installation, his “Skyspace” entitled “The other Horizon” (1998) will be permanently mounted in the park of the MAK Branch Geymüllerschlössel in Vienna’s 18th district.