I am still alive
On Kawara
1978
I am still alive
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First conceived in 1969 as a series of telegrams sent to curator Michel Claura, I Am Still Alive chronicles On Kawara’s enduring project of marking his presence in the world through succinct declarations of existence. ...
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I am still alive
On Kawara
1978
Berlin: Edition René Block
Unpaginated [208 pages]
22 × 24.4 cm
Edition of 450 from Series A, numbered 136/450

First conceived in 1969 as a series of telegrams sent to curator Michel Claura, I Am Still Alive chronicles On Kawara’s enduring project of marking his presence in the world through succinct declarations of existence. His first telegrams were sent three days apart and carried a nihilistic simplicity: “I am not going to commit suicide don’t worry” (December 5), followed by “I am not going to commit suicide worry” (December 8), and “I am going to sleep forget it” (December 11).


 


This first recollection, published in 1979, gathers facsimiles of telegrams sent to friends and acquaintances, including many prominent gallerists and curators. Reproduced without additional text, the telegrams are brief, austere, and direct, faithful to the economy of the telegram form itself. Yet, unfolding across time, their accumulation becomes a silent seismograph of the international art world of the 1970s.


 


At once an existential meditation on time and its passing, I AM STILL ALIVE transforms a simple phrase into a conceptual and philosophical statement in its own right.

Berlin: Edition René Block
Unpaginated [208 pages]
22 × 24.4 cm
Edition of 450 from Series A, numbered 136/450

First conceived in 1969 as a series of telegrams sent to curator Michel Claura, I Am Still Alive chronicles On Kawara’s enduring project of marking his presence in the world through succinct declarations of existence. His first telegrams were sent three days apart and carried a nihilistic simplicity: “I am not going to commit suicide don’t worry” (December 5), followed by “I am not going to commit suicide worry” (December 8), and “I am going to sleep forget it” (December 11).

 

This first recollection, published in 1979, gathers facsimiles of telegrams sent to friends and acquaintances, including many prominent gallerists and curators. Reproduced without additional text, the telegrams are brief, austere, and direct, faithful to the economy of the telegram form itself. Yet, unfolding across time, their accumulation becomes a silent seismograph of the international art world of the 1970s.

 

At once an existential meditation on time and its passing, I AM STILL ALIVE transforms a simple phrase into a conceptual and philosophical statement in its own right.

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First conceived in 1969 as a series of telegrams sent to curator Michel Claura, I Am Still Alive chronicles On Kawara’s enduring project of marking his presence in the world through succinct declarations of existence. His first telegrams were sent three days apart and carried a nihilistic simplicity: “I am not going to commit suicide don’t worry” (December 5), followed by “I am not going to commit suicide worry” (December 8), and “I am going to sleep forget it” (December 11).

 

This first recollection, published in 1979, gathers facsimiles of telegrams sent to friends and acquaintances, including many prominent gallerists and curators. Reproduced without additional text, the telegrams are brief, austere, and direct, faithful to the economy of the telegram form itself. Yet, unfolding across time, their accumulation becomes a silent seismograph of the international art world of the 1970s.

 

At once an existential meditation on time and its passing, I AM STILL ALIVE transforms a simple phrase into a conceptual and philosophical statement in its own right.

Berlin: Edition René Block
Unpaginated [208 pages]
22 × 24.4 cm
Edition of 450 from Series A, numbered 136/450

First conceived in 1969 as a series of telegrams sent to curator Michel Claura, I Am Still Alive chronicles On Kawara’s enduring project of marking his presence in the world through succinct declarations of existence. His first telegrams were sent three days apart and carried a nihilistic simplicity: “I am not going to commit suicide don’t worry” (December 5), followed by “I am not going to commit suicide worry” (December 8), and “I am going to sleep forget it” (December 11).

 

This first recollection, published in 1979, gathers facsimiles of telegrams sent to friends and acquaintances, including many prominent gallerists and curators. Reproduced without additional text, the telegrams are brief, austere, and direct, faithful to the economy of the telegram form itself. Yet, unfolding across time, their accumulation becomes a silent seismograph of the international art world of the 1970s.

 

At once an existential meditation on time and its passing, I AM STILL ALIVE transforms a simple phrase into a conceptual and philosophical statement in its own right.

MORE BOOKS

First conceived in 1969 as a series of telegrams sent to curator Michel Claura, I Am Still Alive chronicles On Kawara’s enduring project of marking his presence in the world through succinct declarations of existence. His first telegrams were sent three days apart and carried a nihilistic simplicity: “I am not going to commit suicide don’t worry” (December 5), followed by “I am not going to commit suicide worry” (December 8), and “I am going to sleep forget it” (December 11).

 

This first recollection, published in 1979, gathers facsimiles of telegrams sent to friends and acquaintances, including many prominent gallerists and curators. Reproduced without additional text, the telegrams are brief, austere, and direct, faithful to the economy of the telegram form itself. Yet, unfolding across time, their accumulation becomes a silent seismograph of the international art world of the 1970s.

 

At once an existential meditation on time and its passing, I AM STILL ALIVE transforms a simple phrase into a conceptual and philosophical statement in its own right.

MORE BOOKS