‘I’ve begun a new phase of my research with a painting where the numbers of time are painted on a black ground. I didn’t begin with zero, which for me is beyond the canvas, but with one, which is the base element of everything. It’s the beginning, and can create a conceptual relationship with the infinite. That’s where this adventure began…. For a long time, I wanted to start a work that would be as rigorous as possible, but only in 1965 did I succeed to structure my thoughts and conceive a project that responded to this need for rigour. From then on, I think I can confirm that I have worked with total serenity, tied to the certainty of my research. The project is called “Opalka 1965/ 1- ∞”. In 1970, I stopped making engravings, and in 1972, after painting the first million, I made the decision to progressively lighten 1% of the black ground, to arrive at grey and then total white, which I should get to with the number 7777777. That year – it was 1972 – I decided to combine each ‘Détail’ with a black and white photograph self-portrait, which testifies to the passage of time on my face’. Roman Opalka, Flash Art 294 – Giugno 2011