"In the late 20th century, Laber was not the only German artist exploring time’s reach across generations. From 1982 to 1987, the artist Joseph Beuys planted thousands of oak trees in the city of Kassel, central Germany, for a work called '7,000 Oaks.' And in 1996, the sculptor Bogomir Ecker created 'Tropfsteinmaschine,' an artificial stalactite dripping for 500 years in the Hamburger Kunsthalle museum, in Hamburg.
"Since then, several other long-term art projects have begun across Europe and beyond. A few of their custodians attended the ceremony on Saturday: They included the overseer of a musical performance in Halberstadt, Germany, that will last 639 years; of a poem that is unfolding over centuries on the cobblestones of a Dutch city’s streets; of an annual pilgrimage to maintain a Bronze Age chalk horse on a hillside in Oxfordshire, England; and of a giant clock in Texas that will tick for 10 millenniums."