What "Is," Silence and Time?

I am admittedly surprised to say that I truly enjoyed several of the pieces in the “Silence and Time” exhibition. However my true favorite of the gallery would have to be the piece titled, “Is,” by James Lee Byars, otherwise known as , the big golden marble sphere in the middle of the room.
This piece seems to be the unofficial centerpiece to the entire exhibit, sort of like the sun that the whole thing revolves around. No matter what you might have just looked at, when you turn around, there it is.
Ironically enough though, this was the very last piece I looked at before leaving the show. At this point I had seen it many times while walking around, but I had at last decided to find the marker with it’s description. I found it on the wall at the end of the “Dryice” picture piece, and was immediately taken with it once having read the sign. I don’t know how many people had the time to stop and read it, so I have included it below:

“James Lee Byars
Is, 1989
The sphere is a perfect form, with no beginning and no end. The ancient Greeks equated the sphere with the timeless order of the cosmos, while the Tantric thinkers ( Tantric deals primarily with the spiritual practices and ritual forms of worship that aim at liberation from ignorance and rebirth) viewed the sphere and circle as symbols of the fleeting perfection of the moment. The marble sphere to James Byars was a metaphor for the philosopher’s belief that objects are more shadows of ideas that are eternal and unchanging.”

I was blown away by the depth and thought that could be put into the description of a mere golden sphere. Yet it all made sense and brought meaning to what had moments ago been just a simple object. This piece without doubt summed up the entire exhibit for me. The concepts of space and time had been by other artists recorded, or captured by numbers, clocks, changes, and movement, but James Byars used the essence of silence and time in his work, instead of focusing on what they leave behind. The sphere itself embodies both subjects, time is often recorded and thought of in a circular matter, like with the Chinese zodiac, or the monthly calendar that although it does technically have the beginning and end of a year, the pattern is an endless loop. Space is also a circular concept, thought of as soft and unending, without corners or hard lines.
So I shall respect and remember Mr. Byars work, not as proof of space or time, but as both space and time. After all, I believe it was most simply said by a classic Disney movie, “It’s the circle, the circle of life.” *cue lion roar*