Reading of ‘One Million Years’ at Documenta XI, Kassel (8 June – 15 September 2002). Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Free Admission
This is a sound installation. The sound recording will be audible throughout the Asia House reception
and stairwell from 6 February – 3 May 2015 during opening hours, closed on weekends
On Kawara: One Million Years
Audio presentation at Asia House
6 February – 3 May 2015
To coincide with a large exhibition of the work of On Kawara, entitled Silence at the Guggenheim Museum in New York from 6 February – 3 May 2015, Asia House is pleased to present an audio presentation of the epic ‘One Million Years’.
‘One Million Years’ is a 20-volume collection, comprised of ‘One Million Years [Past]’, created in 1969 and containing the years 998,031 B.C. through 1969 A.D., and ‘One Million Years [Future]’, created in 1981 and containing the years 1996 A.D. to 1,001,995 A.D. Together these volumes make up 2,000,000 years.
‘One Million Years’ is one of the artist’s best-known works, as it speaks directly about what is relevant to us all: the passage and marking of time.
The first audio presentation of the reading of ‘One Million Years’ occurred in 1993 during Kawara’s yearlong solo exhibition One Thousand Days One Million Years at Dia Center for the Arts, New York.
Since then, there have been numerous live readings and recordings around the world including: Documenta 11 in Kassel in 2002, in Trafalgar Square in 2004 for a continuous outdoor reading lasting 7 days and 7 nights, and in Amsterdam in 2010 at the Stedelijk Museum. The readings all follow the same format: a man and woman sit side by side in a glass enclosure and alternate the reading of years. Each new session continues on from where the previous reading ended.
In 2004, the project was presented in Trafalgar Square for a continuous outdoor reading lasting 7 days and 7 nights, and to Amsterdam in 2010 at the . Readings and recordings have taken place in cities around the world. Each new session continues on from where the previous reading ended.
The recordings will be played at Asia House at the same time as the exhibition takes place at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Asia House is grateful to Angela Choon at David Zwirner, London and to Hiroko Kawahara.
For more information on On Kawara-Silence, which is currently being exhibited at the Guggenheim in conjunction with the continuous live reading of the artist’s One Million Years and to watch a video about it click here.
