James Turrell: The Light Inside

The MFAH commissioned The Light Inside for the underground tunnel linking the Museum's Caroline Wiess Law Building with the Audrey Jones Beck Building when the latter opened in 2000. The Light Inside turns the walls of the tunnel into vessels for conducting light. An expanded version of Turrell's earlier explorations of light in his Shallow Space Construction series, The Light Inside is an all-encompassing environment. Transcending the traditional confines of built spaces, The Light Inside acts as both a passage and a destination. The raised walkway guides visitors forward and gives them the sense of floating in space, while the changing cycle of illumination (which shifts from blue, to crimson, to magenta) further invites contemplation. The Light Inside makes the experience of moving between the Law and the Beck Buildings not only an exploration of light and space, but also a profound and awe-inspiring experience. The Light Inside is located in the Isabel B. and Wallace S. Wilson Gallery, in the tunnel between the Beck Building and the Law Building, and is included with general Museum admission.