Artist Tackles Essence of Human Existence
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
What time did you get up Monday? Who did you meet five months ago? Where did you go seven years ago? These are questions that anyone would be hard-pressed to remember the answers to.
Acclaimed Japanese conceptual artist On Kawara has created a series of works devoted to chronicling the exact times he woke up, where he went and who he met every day for several years. The New York-based Kawara is known for exploring themes of human consciousness, existence and the passage of time in his art.
Five series of his works ― ``I Met,'' ``I Went,'' ``I Got Up,'' ``One Million Years'' and ``Pure Consciousness'' ― are being shown in Korea for the first time at doART Seoul through Aug. 24. Kawara's famous date paintings, however, are not included.
Kawara is considered an influential figure in modern art. His works are autobiographical in the sense that they record details of his life, such as what times he woke up, but convey no hint of himself.
``These records detail the repetitive daily processes Kawara went through to create his works, rather than signs of his personal nature," DoART Seoul said. "The artist went through a continuous meditation-like process for years to portray in his work the themes of basic human consciousness and time, as well as his views on human existence.''
Visiting this exhibition is similar to going to a library, since Kawara's works have been compiled in gray-colored hardbound books. The books are neatly placed on long wooden tables at doART Seoul. Unlike a library, visitors must wear white cotton gloves before browsing through the pages of books.
In ``I Got Up,'' Kawara recorded the times he woke up every day on postcards he sent to two friends from May 10, 1968, to Sept. 17, 1979. He used a rubber stamp to print his name and address to leave no personal trace of himself.
In ``I Met,'' the artist wrote the names of all the people he met and talked with daily. "I Went" contains maps showing the routes Kawara took every day.
All three series ended on Sept. 17, 1979, when Kawara decided to stop after a bag containing materials he used was stolen in a bank in Sweden. He took this as a sign that he should stop the series.
``One Million Years'' created in 1969 features a typewritten list of the world's first million years and the next million years. The first volume, ``For All Those Who Have Lived and Died,'' refers to 998,031 B.C. to 1969. The second volume, ``For The Last One,'' covers 1993 through 1,001,992 A.D.
Visitors can listen to a recording of ``One Million Years,'' in which a man and woman take turns reading a single year continuously.
In the 1960s, Kawara gained fame for his ``Today'' series of ``date paintings'' that show only the date when it was made in simple white letters against a solid background. For his latest project ``Pure Consciousness,'' he installed seven date paintings at kindergartens in world cities such as New York, Sydney, Madagascar, Inari, Shanghai and Reykjavik. He did this to find out how children with pure consciousness react to the concept of date.
Details on Kawara himself are shrouded in mystery, as he never shows his face in public, attends exhibition openings or conducts interviews. Also unknown are his exact date of birth and birthplace. For the doArt exhibition, he only disclosed that he was 27,605 days old, as of July 23 this year. His entry in Wikipedia says his birth date is Dec. 24, 1932, which would make him 75.
Visit www.doartseoul.com. Call (02) 2287-3500.