On Kawara (American, born Japan, 1933-2014)
One Million Years
INV-2715
On Kawara (American, born Japan, 1933-2014)1999
One Million Years
On Kawara (American, born Japan, 1933-2014) →20th CenturyArtist's Bookbook
Date
1999
Medium
Two-volume artist's book of 4024 pages, printed on featherweight Bible Veritable Ivory paper, with black leather covers featuring gold and silver embossing, and a black leather slipcase
Dimensions
Single Volume: 15 × 11.5 × 4.3 cm (5 15/16 × 4 9/16 × 1 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Ryerson and Burnham Libraries Operating Fund
Throughout his artistic practice, which ranged from paintings to postcards, On Kawara sought to materialize the passage of time. Resembling a pocket Bible in size and paper material, One Million Years is an artist’s book divided into two volumes: Past, which accounts for the years 998,031 BCE to 1969 CE, and Future, which encompasses 1993 CE to 1,001,992 CE. Each page lists 500 years, so the average human lifespan fits into a mere fraction of a single page. The visually overwhelming series of numbers pushes the human imagination to its limits, attempting to capture the expansiveness of time.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
