Ponctuation lumineuse 1960

Pol Bury made this 'Ponctuation lumineuse', or 'Luminous Punctuation', using a circular support with a square grid set within it. The dark ground is punctuated by bright white dots, like stars, and it's almost as if Bury made a kind of cosmic map. Looking closely, I can see how the texture of the ground contrasts with the smooth whiteness of the points of light. Maybe he applied the black in layers to build a velvety surface? My eye is drawn to the grouping of dots in the middle of the grid - it's like an interruption of the pattern. It makes me think about how he, as the artist, gets to decide the rules, and then break them. Bury reminds me of Agnes Martin, another artist who used grids and dots to create meditative, open-ended compositions, although her work is often softer in its touch. Ultimately, this feels like a piece about the push and pull between order and chaos and how sometimes the smallest gesture can change everything.