The oval shape has framed faces for centuries in portrait art and became especially popular during the rise of photography in the 19th century. Khadivi is interested in how a geometric form—the oval—has come to represent the past. The sculpture’s axis rotates once per minute around a fixed light source. The reflection is created by engraving and surface-treating the glass. It moves across the room like a second hand, but the farther it travels, the faster it moves. Khadivi developed the motion based on the idea of time’s flexibility and the possibility of bending seconds. The resemblance to a searchlight is intentional, but it remains unsaid whether the reflection travels through a memory bank or an outer galaxy.
Material: 37 melted oval glass sheets on rotating metal, still light, shadow
