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"At 3:30 a.m. in José Ignacio, I joined a handful of people filing into a large pyramid-shaped structure called Ta Khut, its exterior concealed by grass and plants and, instead of a sharp point, an apex punctuated by a white sphere crafted from some 42 tons of small marble bricks. Through heavy Lapacho wood sliding doors we entered a granite rotunda where every whisper and even the grains of sand beneath our shoes echoed upward toward a circular hole bored through the cupola to reveal the night sky. Seated along the edge, we watched a spectrum of colored lights swell and contract, reflecting onto the cavernous space above as the sounds outside shifted from frogs and crickets to chirping birds, with the crash of waves a constant. The rounded piece of sky visible through the 16-foot-diameter hole seemed to become a tangible object, and as clouds dissipated, moonlight gave way to radiant beams of morning sunlight. For some this is an aesthetic pleasure; for others it offers deep introspection about the scale of human life or the dawn of a new beginning; at its core, Ta Khut is a shrine to light." - Zachary Weiss
James Turrell Skyspace art installation with light and sky
Luis E. Schickendantz 1, 20402 Faro de José Ignacio, Departamento de Maldonado, Uruguay Get directions