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All art is contemporary art because it had to be made when it was now.
James Turrell
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Art is rooted in its own time; it reflects the current moment of its creation.

This quote by James Turrell emphasizes that all forms of art are fundamentally tied to the moment in which they were created. Each piece emerges from a specific cultural, social, and historical context, thereby marking it as contemporary to that time, regardless of when it is viewed in the future.

Themes

ArtContemporaryCreationMomentTime

In practice

Example use cases

In an art gallery discussion, one might use this quote to illustrate the relevance of historical context in evaluating art.

More from James Turrell

I wanted to deal with light directly rather than with paint.
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It is only when light is reduced that the pupil opens and feeling goes out of the eyes like touch.
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I feel that I want to use light as this wonderful and magic elixir that we drink as Vitamin D through the skin - and I mean, we are literally light-eaters - to then affect the way that we see.
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In many cases, if we knew what it would take, we might have thought twice about it, so it's often wonderful that we don't have hindsight.
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There are different stages when you fly. The first stage is the dollhouse effect, seeing everything on Earth like it's a model. Suddenly, all of your concerns seem very small.
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Space has a way of looking. It seems like it has a presence of vision. When you come into it, it is there, it’s been waiting for you.
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