This work by Philip Taaffe infuses traditional geometric abstraction with flint sponges, some one hundred million years old, that were found in clay deposits in Britain.

The piece also makes use of the “unit of direction” optical illusion, wherein spiraling lines placed within concentric circles appear to move. This type of abstraction is meant to shift viewers into an altered state of consciousness, driving them toward a transcendent awareness of the unseen, low-frequency vibrations of the universe. Taaffe further points to the vastness of time and the limitations of human faculties of perception, showing our smallness in relation to the cosmos.