(Nagoya, Japan, 1936 - 2010)
1984-1986
Litho screenprint with blind embossing on paper
36 5/8 x 56 5/8 in. (93.0 x 143.8 cm)
Collection of the Akron Art Museum
Gift of Arthur Feldman
1992.15
Arakawa studied mathematics and medicine and attended art school in Tokyo. In 1961, the artist arrived in New York City, with only $14 and Marcel Duchamp’s telephone number. Arakawa soon met his future wife, Madeline Gins (1941–2014), and together they forged careers as writers, artists and architects. The couple is best known for their idiosyncratic architecture designed to prevent aging and forestall death. The Sharing of Numbers reflects Arakawa’s wide-ranging interests in philosophy, physics and metaphysics. The text, a poem by Gins, and irregular lines work in tandem to explore the relationship of time and space.