James Turrell’s first cosmic Skyspace artwork was installed in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 1974. Since then, he has installed some 48 other variations of Skyspace around the world — in museums, galleries, sculpture gardens, and in a few private residences on five continents. One of the best of those is “Secondwind 2005,” which was installed on the natural grounds of the NMAC Foundation sculpture park, located in southern Andalusia, Spain, not far from the Atlantic coastline.

This Turrell piece alone is worth a visit to the NMAC Foundation. The piece is positively otherworldly — it almost seems as if aliens left it behind from a spiritual sojourn on earth. Like a sacred site for another — better — species, you come across the piece in a dry pine forest. 

It’s a truly unique place and experience. Everyone speaks in hushed tones when inside. The piece somehow transports visitors, and most viewers automatically develop a reverence for this space. It’s a truly transcendent experience and it’s worth spending at least an hour inside the work.