The Work = Concentration

The work is to be performed in a gallery space, enclosed by walls on three sides and open to observers on the fourth. On the wall opposite observers should hang a large analog clock, of the kind familiar from schools and other institutional settings. The clock should tick audibly when the space is otherwise silent, but not be hearable above even minimal activity. Any windows in the space that look out on a busy sidewalk (for example) should be rendered opaque; if looking over an infrequently used lawn, or trees, or a relatively unchanging cityscape from an upper story, they can be transparent.

In the center of the gallery space is a simple table and one straight-backed chair, facing the clock, so away from observers. The table can be illuminated either by a lamp placed on it or a light hung from the ceiling. Along one of the side walls is a metal locker, approximately six feet tall. On the wall beside the locker is a punch clock with timecards. Perhaps twenty to thirty feet behind the chair, observers are blocked from entering the performance space by a line of tables like the central one. Only a few inches should be left between them, with a slightly larger gap, inconspicuous but wide enough for the performer to slip through, at one wall. At each table is a chair like the one in the performance space. Behind these tables and chairs is enough room for observers to stand or pass through freely.

The performer—hereafter referred to as the reader—will work shifts totaling forty hours a week, adaptable to the gallery’s schedule. At the start of a shift, which should be approximately thirty minutes after the gallery’s opening, the reader will enter the space, store any coat and other unnecessary possessions (especially their phone) in the locker, don a worker’s jacket, and punch in. For the entirety of the shift, apart from clocking out for a one-hour lunch break halfway through, they will sit at the table and silently read Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu in seven volumes, in their preferred edition/translation. (The work is adaptable to other texts, but any replacement should be significant and of some difficulty, and will alter the length and meaning of the performance.)

If the reader has not finished before the scheduled opening of the next exhibit, the performance will be terminated and declared a failure.

While inside the performance space, the reader should not acknowledge any observers. While reading, they may lean forward over the book on the table, or lean back tilting or lifting the book toward them, but they should not slouch excessively or put their head down. The reader may cross their legs, but not rock back in the chair or place their feet on the table. They may look up briefly at the wall and any windows to stretch their eyes, and may check the time on the clock, but should not do either unnecessarily. The ideal width and configuration of the space would mean that, when reading, they cannot (but just barely cannot) see any observers in their peripheral vision without turning their head substantially, which they should not do. Observers, from the edge of the space, should be able to see that the reader is reading a book, but not see their facial expression.

On each of the tables across the back of the performance space should be a copy of these instructions, as well as of the book the reader is reading. Observers may occupy the chairs at these tables for as long as they choose during the gallery’s opening hours.

The reader is permitted a glass of water, or a mug of coffee or tea, in the performance space, but may eat only when punched out for lunch, or during two fifteen-minute breaks (one before and one after lunch, taken at the reader’s discretion), when they will exit the space. Extra breaks should be limited to emergencies. The reader may stand and stretch briefly only in cases of cramps or extreme discomfort. Fluid intake and posture should be adapted to limit these interruptions, which diminish the quality of the work, as would nodding off even momentarily.

The performance will last as long as it takes the reader, according to the working schedule, to read the text in full. The volumes other than the one actively being read will stand in order between bookends on the corner of the table, facing the reader and observers. When punching out, the reader will insert a bookmark to keep their place in the current volume, which they will restore to its place among the others. Observers will thus be able to see approximately how much of the text remains to be read. On clocking out for lunch and at the end of each day (which should be at least half an hour before the close of the gallery), the reader will note their current page on their timecard.

At the end of the performance, the reader will clock out a final time regardless of when during the current working shift this occurs, not otherwise deviating from their routine. If this happens before the end of the time that the space has been allotted for the performance (one calendar month if the text is Proust’s), then the gallery will sit as described but unused until the close of the exhibition. If the performance runs longer than the allotted time, the reader will continue to work amidst preparations of the space for the next exhibit. If the reader has not finished before the scheduled opening of the next exhibit, the performance will be terminated and declared a failure. The reader will be provided room and board, transportation to and from the gallery, and, upon completion of the work, paid for their time in accordance with the local minimum hourly wage.