Readings from On Kawara's monumental work during the Venice Biennale
2017
On Kawara's Reading One Million Years (Past and Future) was presented during the first three months of the 57th Venice Biennale in the Oratorio di San Ludovico, a 16th century church dedicated to the spoken word.
This monumental 20 volume calendar lists dates one million years into the future and one million years into the past. Begun in 1969 and completed in 1999, the texts are dedicated respectively to "all who have lived and died" and to "the last one." The artist converted One Million Years from typewritten form into live readings and recordings in 1993. The reading is done by one male and one female reader who alternate between the odd and even numbers.
This epic work was presented at David Zwirner in New York in 2009, and more recently at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2015 as part of On Kawara—Silence, a critically acclaimed overview of the artist's work. The New York Times described the exhibition as "an enthralling experience."
Read more about the Venice presentation in The Art Newspaper. Reading One Million Years (Past and Future) was included in The Independent's 10 Best Fringe Events in the 57th Venice Biennale.