Back to list Reading One Million Years, an epic work of
conceptual art by the acclaimed Japanese artist, On
Kawara, is presented in the UK for the first time
through a continuous reading lasting seven days and
nights in Trafalgar Square from 29 March to 5 April
2004. The work has been presented in cities around the
world, including Paris, New York, Kassel and Kwangju.
It will now be brought to the geographical and symbolic
heart of London by the South London Gallery in the
lead-up to the re-opening of its building following
refurbishment. In a glass structure at the foot of Nelson's
Column, a man and a woman will sit side by side at small
desks. As Londoners and tourists approach them, it will
become clear that they are not having a normal
conversation but taking turns to read a single year from
On Kawara's ten-volume work, One Million Years. For
the period of a week, on one day the readings will be
from Past, the volumes which list every year from
998,031 BC to 1969 AD, and on the next from Future which
lists the years from 1980 AD to 1,001,980 AD. One Million Years was first made in 1969, the
year of the Woodstock music festival, major civil
protests against the Vietnam War and man's first landing
on the moon. In these books the length of an average
human life is equivalent to a few lines, the whole of
human history reduced to a few pages. Past is dedicated
to 'all those who have lived and died' and Future is
'for the last one'. On Kawara's work speaks simply and directly about
a subject relevant to us all: the passage and marking of
time. In 1966 he embarked upon his on-going Today
series of Date paintings, of which there are now
thousands, each one consisting of the date on which it
was made, meticulously painted in white on a plain
coloured background. Another series of works, begun in
1969, involved sending postcards and telegrams to
friends and acquaintances bearing messages like 'I am
still alive'. On Kawara has produced numerous artist's
books, such as I Met, a day-by-day listing of all the
people he has ever met. At the root of all these works
is the artist's fundamental and on-going concern with
the essence of human existence. This South London Gallery off-site project has
been made possible with support from Bloomberg and
Lottery funding from Arts Council England. Images are courtesy of the South London Gallery
and David Zwirner Gallery, New York | 
