Rirkrit Tiravanija’s Chew the Fat lounge. Via ArtNet.

24 Hours on the Concept of Time
6pm Tuesday 6 January - 6pm Wednesday 7 January
Guggenheim Museum - 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York NY

Second only to the importance of space at the Guggenheim's soon to be closed anyspacewhatever exhibition -- the lyricism of which is most visibly underscored by the empty recesses punctuating the rotunda galleries throughout the museum -- is the issue of time. Certain works there installed seem to cordially invite a lingering of indeterminate tenure for visitors to partake in, and to do so, perhaps most importantly, on their own terms. Rirkrit Tiravanija and Douglas Gordon's Cinema Liberté presents an epic program of previously banned films to be comfortably watched on beanbag cushions, while Tiravanija's coffee bar and Chew The Fat viewing stations likewise encourage a contemplative and unhurried spectatorship. Liam Gillick's Audioguide Bench reassigns sectors of the museum space, otherwise policed by the immanent logic of visitor fatigue, from passageways to rest or lounge spaces -- the primary differences between the two being, of course, precisely just how one spends her time in each. Carsten Höller, similarly, contributes a kind of plein-air hotel room on slowly rotating glass discs for patrons, who could purchase a single night occupancy if inclined -- or, in other words, buy time in the museum when others cannot.

Tomorrow night the Guggenheim presents 24-Hours on the Concept of Time, a final free event organized by the curator Nancy Spector in collaboration with Serptentine Gallery director, Hans Ulrich Obrist. The event, true to its title, will present an opporunity for intrepid visitors to spend an entire day in the museum and witness a densely packed program of interviews, lectures, discussions, and performances by a wide cast of characters with varying degrees of proximity to the ten artists included in the exhibition.