
LIGHT+CHANGE Installation View 08
2022
This monumental light installation features three luminous circular portals embedded in gallery walls, their programmed colors shifting continuously through choreographed sequences. A solitary figure stands centered in the pristine white cube space, silhouetted against the glowing discs that dominate the architectural field. The work exemplifies the artist's investigation of color as an immaterial, time based medium, where LED systems create evolving chromatic experiences that resist fixed documentation. Reflected light floods the polished floor and saturates the surrounding walls, collapsing distinctions between object and environment. Commissioned for a major desert museum, the installation transforms the gallery into a meditation on perception, time, and the immaterial qualities of light itself.
- Location
- Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Notes
Installation view of LIGHT+CHANGE, Palm Springs Art Museum, Nov 25 2022 to May 7 2023. Photo: Lance Gerber.
More by Phillip K. Smith III
Collectors of Phillip K. Smith III
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Artists in conversation

James Turrell
American · b. 1943

Turrell similarly uses light as a primary sculptural medium in site specific desert environments, creating immersive perceptual experiences that blur the boundaries between natural and artificial illumination.

Ólafur Elíasson
Danish Icelandic · b. 1967

Eliasson creates large scale installations using light, mirrors, and reflective surfaces to engage viewers with natural phenomena, sharing Smith's interest in transforming architectural and landscape environments through precisely orchestrated sensory interventions.
Doug Wheeler
American · b. 1939
Wheeler is a core figure in the Light and Space movement whose immersive environments using diffused light and minimalist forms closely parallel Smith's exploration of perception, luminosity, and spatial transformation.


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