San Francisco born conceptual artist Jonathon Keats proves that philosophy and art can indeed be brought together in a thought-provoking, intriguing way.
Known for his long-term thought projects, Keats might just be the first contemporary artist to translate the Slow Life movement into art.
He once sat in a chair for 24 hours, simply reflecting and thinking, and then sold his thoughts as art at a price determined by dividing each buyer’s annual income down to the minute.
Similarly, he copyrighted his own mind in 2003, claiming it was a sculpture he created through thinking.
As for his latest project, Keats has written a story that will take 1000 years to read, and which has been published in the ‘Infinity Issue’ of literary magazine Opium.
‘The Longest Story Ever Told’ is only nine words long and has been printed on the magazine’s cover, with each word printed in different ink and fractionally more vulnerable to ultraviolet light. When exposed to sunlight, words will appear revealing a single word every 100 years.
“Like most people, I live my life in a rush, consuming media on the run,” Keats told Wired in a recent interview. “That may be fine for reading the average blog, but something essential is lost when ingesting words is all about speed. My thousand-year story is an antidote.”
