++++Leslie Eastman

For the Being of Time explores chronology and otherness at the heart of the perceiving subject. The title for the exhibition inverts that of Eastman’s recent exhibition For the Time Being. This exhibition at Conical is the mirror image of the other but as always in mirroring, difference and indeterminacy enter the heart of the matter. 

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In For the Being of Time optical-kinetic forms and video works address ideas of the circulation of moving bodies in time and space. The works are derived from Eastman’s drawing practice that employs repetition and geometry to suggest natural processes of iteration and generation as well as from his interest in scientific instruments of measurement and observation. These pairings suggest a species of clock whose hands move unceasingly, literally performing the round in a cycle of contraction and diffusion. 

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The video documents the annual cleaning of the two hundred inch mirror at the Palomar observatory.

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For the Being of Time utilises a ‘light atmosphere’ drawing attention to the qualities of natural light unique to the gallery architecture. The space itself is staged as a gaseous helioscope, responsive to the circulation of the Spring light from the distant celestial body that articulates the front space at Conical.

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With warm thanks to Jake Carter for his assistance.