
Paul Laffoley Cambridge, MA, 1935-2015
Temporality / Spatiality , 1963
Oil, acrylic, and vinyl press type on canvas
38 x 75 in.
96.5 x 190.5 cm
96.5 x 190.5 cm
$ 125,000.00
Subject_ Time and Space. Symbol Evocation_ The Yin-Yang Form of the Interaction of Temporality and Spatiality. Comments_ The temporal realm is the realm of action in the now. The “now”...
Subject_ Time and Space.
Symbol Evocation_ The Yin-Yang Form of the Interaction of Temporality and Spatiality.
Comments_
The temporal realm is the realm of action in the now. The “now” of time processes forward in a helix at the circular periphery of the cosmos, which is itself moving in time. This action occurs within the passive receptacle of the spatial realm, which cannot be apprehended from an active position. Conceptual representations of space like horizons and orthogonal lines, which depend on changes in position and therefore time, are illusions. You can never actually be at the convergence of the receding lines of railroad tracks. Pure “here” and “there” are the only positions possible in the appreciation of space, which is free of time and movement. In fact, in order for movement to occur, space must be divided. Or to put it another way, as soon as you divide space, you create movement. Dasein is the force of caring that creates movement, or manifestation, out of space’s possibility. In order for a line to be drawn in space you have to care.
As pictured in the yin-yang symbol at the center of my painting, temporality and spatiality are actually a unity, although the best way to sense either is in the relative absence of its inverse. When you disengage from time you apprehend space, and when you disengage from space you apprehend time. However, in the bigger picture, the appearance of both space and time point to a higher, cosmic reality, which is beyond the temporal and the spatial.
Symbol Evocation_ The Yin-Yang Form of the Interaction of Temporality and Spatiality.
Comments_
The temporal realm is the realm of action in the now. The “now” of time processes forward in a helix at the circular periphery of the cosmos, which is itself moving in time. This action occurs within the passive receptacle of the spatial realm, which cannot be apprehended from an active position. Conceptual representations of space like horizons and orthogonal lines, which depend on changes in position and therefore time, are illusions. You can never actually be at the convergence of the receding lines of railroad tracks. Pure “here” and “there” are the only positions possible in the appreciation of space, which is free of time and movement. In fact, in order for movement to occur, space must be divided. Or to put it another way, as soon as you divide space, you create movement. Dasein is the force of caring that creates movement, or manifestation, out of space’s possibility. In order for a line to be drawn in space you have to care.
As pictured in the yin-yang symbol at the center of my painting, temporality and spatiality are actually a unity, although the best way to sense either is in the relative absence of its inverse. When you disengage from time you apprehend space, and when you disengage from space you apprehend time. However, in the bigger picture, the appearance of both space and time point to a higher, cosmic reality, which is beyond the temporal and the spatial.
Exhibitions
Paul Laffoley_ Boston Visionary Cell. Kent Fine Art, New York, 2013 Paul Laffoley. New York_ Francis Naumann Fine Art. March 2 – April 13, 2018. (folio with text)Literature
Walla, Douglas and Paul Laffoley. Boston Visionary Cell. New York_ Kent Fine Art 2013 illus..Walla, Douglas, Linda Dalywimple Henderson, Steve Moscowitz, and Ariel Saiber. The Essential Paul Laffoley. Chicago_ University of Chicago Press, 2015. illus in color plate 2