Artist James Turrell: I can make the sky any colour you choose

James Turrell in front of Roden Crater in the Arizona desert. With the help of astronomers, the artist turned the crater into a naked-eye observatory. Photograph: Florian Holzherr

Its normal to get a little teary in there, James Turrell reassures me as I sign a waiver before lying down on a bed that slides into a sphere that looks like a cross between an MRI scanner and a UFO. Youre also agreeing to give me a good review when you sign that too, jokes the American artist.

The waiver confirms that I dont have epilepsy, a pacemaker or claustrophobia his 2010 artwork Bindu Shards could potentially trigger any of these things. Im in a tight, enclosed space and there are bright, pulsating lights making me lose not just my sense of depth, but any idea of whether my eyes are open or closed.

It would be easy to describe the cell as a light show, but its far more than that. The real show is happening inside my head. It doesnt actually change, its your perception that changes, says Turrell. This is behind-the-eye seeing. All those things you see there are not projected on that dome theres nothing there at all.

Part of his Perceptual Cells series, Bindu Shards is one of the major works that make up the Turrell retrospective at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. While intense, the cell is designed to induce the state of mind that occurs in the early stages of meditation the sort of drifting off sensation that happens when you gaze into a fireplace.

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One of things Ive always been interested in is the theta state, says Turrell. Thats thinking, but not thinking in words. The alpha state and theta state occur naturally on the path to rest and sleep, he explains, and the light and sound in the cell prompts the brainwave entrainment that makes that happen.

While all this may sound a bit bizarre, Turrell has a wealth of knowledge to back up his work, including a degree in perceptual psychology and another in mathematics. But while his art revolves around various scientific concepts, he does not have the same intent as a scientist. I know that science is very interested in answers, and Im just happy with a good question, he says.

Turrell is also a trained pilot and the influence of flying can be felt in several of his works that induce a sensation of floating in space. It was while flying his plane over the Arizona desert that he spotted Roden Crater, an inactive volcano that has become the centre of his lifetimes work. With the help of astronomers, he turned the crater into a naked-eye observatory, with tunnels connecting various other installation spaces. Still a work in progress, the crater is a much sought-after experience open only to friends and special guests of the artist.

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Artist James Turrell: I can make the sky any colour you choose