Artist Choice by Sirje Runge: "James Turrell: Passageways"+"Architecture of Infinity"
Saturday 21. February at 18:00 - 20:00
Kai Art Center, Tallinn
In the second half of February, Kai Art Center’s cinema will present a film program curated by Sirje Runge, created in dialogue with her solo exhibition “On Fragile Ground. Sirje Runge and Light.” The films will be screened over four evenings and form part of the exhibition’s public program.
For the finissage of Sirje Runge’s exhibition on Saturday, 21 February, a visually captivating spiritual journey has been chosen—one that aligns beautifully with Runge’s artistic vision. Presented together in a single screening are the short documentary James Turrell: Passageways (1995) and the feature-length documentary Architecture of Infinity (2018). Both films explore the phenomena of space and light and carry a distinctly meditative quality.
Carine Asscheri’s James Turrell: Passageways is a short documentary about artist James Turrell’s ability to use the sky itself as his studio to investigate the relationship between light and space. The film shows Turrell’s work at Roden Crater in Arizona, which he is transforming into a vast observatory for studying celestial bodies, and introduces his research into natural light as well as his interest in Hopi mythology.
Architecture of Infinity (original title Architektur der Unendlichkeit) is a poetic documentary by Swiss director Christoph Schaub, exploring transcendence and spirituality as experienced through space, light, and time. Rather than focusing on the technical analysis of buildings, the film examines how space can move a person internally and open experiences that reach beyond everyday reality.
Schaub begins his journey with memories from childhood, when he felt a deep attraction to sacred places and contemplated beginnings and endings. This personal perspective expands into conversations with architects Peter Zumthor, Peter Märkli, and Álvaro Siza Vieira, as well as artists James Turrell (also featured in the first short film) and Cristina Iglesias. In their work, light, material, and space play a central role as experiential elements capable of guiding a person toward a meditative or even spiritual state.
The film moves fluidly between nature, art, music, and architecture, illustrating how “sacred spaces” are not limited to churches or temples. Spirituality can also emerge in landscapes, light installations, or sound. Schaub emphasizes that the focus is not on religion, but on the human capacity to experience something greater than oneself.
The result is a meditative, visually enchanting documentary that invites viewers to reflect on the impact of space, the passage of time, and the ways in which architecture can open a door to the experience of infinity.
Each screening begins with a video introduction in which Sirje Runge explains the background of her film selection and offers viewers possible perspectives for experiencing the work. According to her, the films chosen for the programme form a unified whole together with the exhibition and reflect a small fragment of what she finds meaningful in the world.
Screenings can be attended with an exhibition ticket. A limited number of full program passes is also available. To experience Sirje Runge’s video introduction, please arrive before the screening begins.
The film selection is brought to audiences in collaboration with Sõprus Cinema, and the programme has been compiled by Sirje Runge together with Sõprus’s programme manager Johannes Lõhmus.
Program:
14.02 at 6pm — Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
15.02 at 6pm — Federico Fellini’s Roma (1972)
21.02 at 6pm — Carine Asscheri’s James Turrell: Passageways (1995) + Christoph Schaub’s Architecture of Infinity
22.02 at 6pm — Two episodes of National Geographic’s One Strange Rock (2018)
“James Turrell: Passageways”
Genre: short documentary, architecture, art
Duration: 27m
Riik: France, 1995
Director: Carine Asscher
Language: English
Subtitles: English
“Architecture of Infinity”
Genre: documentary, architecture, art
Duration: 1h 30m**
Country: Switzerland, 2018
Director: Christoph Schaub
Language: German
Subtitles: English
Kai Art Center • Peetri tänav 12, 10415 Tallinn, Harju maakond, Estonia
