Astron 1978

Brian Halsey made this ‘Astron’, with a sense of geometry and a play of dimensions. I wonder, when Halsey was making this, were they thinking about the relationship between the physical and the metaphysical? There’s an interesting tension in the print, between the precision and the depth. The dark grey tones, like the deepness of space, set off the warm orange at the centre – it’s like a starburst. The structure is both grounded and floating, like a 3D model of the cosmos. There is a graphic punch here, which you find also in the Op art and geometric abstraction of artists like Victor Vasarely. It makes you think, what does it mean to see something new? And how do we reconcile the abstract with the real? It’s a conversation that’s been going on for years, inspiring creativity and shaping new perspectives.