Lot Essay
In 1965, Opalka began a series of paintings which conceptually related to the "date paintings" of On Kawara, and that register the passing of time. Opalka wrote, "In my attitude, which constitutes a program for my lifetime, progression registers the process of the work, documents and defines time. Only one date appears, 1965, the date when the first "detail" will have 1 more white than the "detail" before it. In connection with this, I anticipate the arrival of the movement when "details" will be identified in white on white." (As quoted in: Opalka 1965/1, Munich 1980).
During the working process, Opalka makes an audiotape recording of himself counting the numbers as he laboriously paints them. At the end of each session, he also takes a photograph of himself. Like the numbers themselves, these documentary devices, which remain in the artist's personal archives, register the passing of time by coldly documenting the artist's own ageing process. (The photograph Opalka took of himself having completed the present painting is illustrated below).
During the working process, Opalka makes an audiotape recording of himself counting the numbers as he laboriously paints them. At the end of each session, he also takes a photograph of himself. Like the numbers themselves, these documentary devices, which remain in the artist's personal archives, register the passing of time by coldly documenting the artist's own ageing process. (The photograph Opalka took of himself having completed the present painting is illustrated below).