Everything #4
Adrian Piper American
Everything #4 exemplifies the spiritual dimension of Adrian Piper’s rigorous conceptual art practice. This oval-shaped mirror is one of eight (three in The Met’s collection) similarly etched in gold with the phrase "EVERYTHING WILL BE TAKEN AWAY," which is as much a reminder of mortality as a harbinger of transcendence. Mirrors have long been used as memento mori, or symbols of death, in the history of art. Everything #4 invites viewers to contemplate its otherworldly proclamation and their own reflection, in context. Seriality is key to the work, as its identical editions enable multiple encounters that mirror mantra-like repetition. The Met’s installation of six editions as part of Afterlives: Contemporary Art in the Byzantine Crypt (January 29, 2024-January 25, 2026) realized, for the first time, the artist’s preferred mode of exhibiting the work, "dispersed among widely separated spaces and rooms, so that the viewer encounters this reminder of mortality and transcendence repeatedly but unexpectedly." [1]
[1] The artist quoted in Andrea Myers Achi and Akili Tommasino, "Visualizing the Afterlife," Perspectives: Religion and Spirituality [Online resource: metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles], May 17, 2024.
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