UNTITLED

“What was the first art show you ever went to?” is the art-world equivalent of “what was your first concert?” All I can think of is dinosaurs and shimmering rocks. In any case, it was no Ted Nugent at the Forum.

But some shows made a siz- able impression on me. One was a late-’70s installation by James Turrell: a glowing blue rectangle on a bare wall. I thought it was a projection, but it turned out to be an opening into a smaller room filled with reflected light. It was eerie and almost laughable in its simplicity yet ushered in a host of architectural, cinematic and spiritual references.

An updated version of it is part of “James Turrell at Pomona College” (pomona.edu). It feels a bit smaller than the one I recall and a little less eerie. But I now know scientists explain the experience as a Ganzfeld Effect, in which the mind enters an altered state after being exposed to an undifferentiated field.

Not surprisingly, Turrell’s show has spawned complementary shows, most notably “Ephemeral: Explorations in Light” at the Claremont Museum of Art (claremontmuseum.org). Here, five artists explore sculptural and projected light. Won Ju Lim’s “Elysian Park” is the centerpiece, but Elaine Buckholtz’s video projection “Spinning Night Cafe” is one of the best marriages of technology and painting I’ve seen. All take time to appreciate, but as Turrell once said, “Things that require more time give more back.”

-- theguide@latimes.com