It’s hard to say what I enjoy more: traveling to experience more art, or exploring art as an excuse to travel somewhere. Either way, there are unique places in the world that attract both travelers and art lovers alike.
Skyspace is a series of architectural installations scattered around the world. They are rooms with an opening cut into the ceiling, through which you can see the sky — no glass, no filters. Visitors sit on benches along the perimeter and simply look upward.
The key effect comes from the way human perception works. Normally, the brain estimates the distance to the sky using context — horizons, buildings, trees. When that context is removed and the sky is visible only through a precise geometric opening, the brain loses its usual reference points and can no longer interpret depth correctly.
As a result, the infinite atmosphere visually “collapses”: the sky is no longer perceived as space, but as a flat surface — almost tangible, almost touchable.
At sunrise and sunset, Skyspace is illuminated. This triggers a simple physiological effect: the eye always perceives color relative to its surroundings, not in absolute terms. When the walls glow, for example, in warm orange tones, the eye compensates and begins to “see” the sky in the opposite, cooler spectrum — blue skies may appear purple, gray skies amber. Even though nothing is projected onto the sky itself.
All Skyspace installations are created by American artist James Turrell, who works exclusively with light and space as artistic materials. In 2013, he became the first artist in history to have three major solo retrospectives simultaneously at leading museums: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles), and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The best part is that New York has two of his Skyspace installations:
One of them is publicly accessible and called Meeting. It’s located inside a former school building in Queens, now the museum MoMA PS1. Notably, this was the second Skyspace in his career, but the first public one and the first in the United States.
Like the rest of PS1, entry to Meeting is free, but it’s best to register in advance on the museum’s website. The space is closed during rain, snow, and strong winds.
The second New York Skyspace is called Leading and is located at Friends Seminary in Manhattan, which is a bit harder to access. The school opens it to the public on select days, but tickets sell out very quickly.
If you ever have a free day in New York, I highly recommend catching either sunrise or sunset in one of the Skyspace installations. It’s one of those rare experiences that can’t be fully explained — you simply have to experience it.
Visitor information
📍 Meeting at MoMA PS1 / 22-25 Jackson Ave, Queens, NY 11101
Free entry, but registration required at momaps1.org
📍 Leading at Friends Seminary / 222 E 16th St, New York, NY 10003
Tickets available at friendsskyspace.com
