The Circle / The Sphere
Ensemble
From early on in his artistic career Byars used geometric figures, especially circles and spheres because of their simplicity and their intrinsic symbolic value. Byars made use of these shapes in everything he did and on every scale. A prominent example on a monumental scale is The Angel (1989), an installation consisting out of 125 glass spheres hand-blown by a Murano glassblower. More intimate illustrations are The Spherical Book (1989) and The Circle Book (1986). Regarding the performances and actions by Byars, we clearly see the equal dominance of these shapes. In The World Question Center, we see a group of people, all wearing the same robe, sitting in a circle around Byars. With the "action" A Halo around the ICC, his initial plan was to make a golden halo in front and in the Internationaal Cultureel Centrum, where he would give a performance.
