I Can't Go On. I'll Go On.
by Unknown Artist, 2016
Details
- Year
- 2016
- Medium
- Neon installation
- Size
- Variable
Alfredo Jaar created this neon text installation in 2016. The phrase comes from Samuel Beckett's 1953 novel The Unnamable, and it captures the paradox of enduring hardship while facing what feels impossible. The top section reads "I CAN'T GO ON." in red neon, taking up one-third of the space. Below it, "I'LL GO ON." glows white across the remaining two-thirds. That ratio is deliberate: determination outweighs despair.
Jaar was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1956 and has spent decades making art about humanitarian crises and global inequality. He moved to New York in 1982 and works across installation, photography, and film. This piece is on view at the Perez Art Museum Miami, where the Beckett quote functions as a quiet statement about resilience. Jaar has returned to this phrase across multiple works, making it a recurring motif in his practice.
About I Can't Go On. I'll Go On.
The phrase is the final line of Samuel Beckett's 1953 novel The Unnamable, one of the most important works of 20th-century literature. Beckett wrote it as a meditation on human existence and endurance.
The red "I CAN'T GO ON." represents despair and takes up only one-third of the space. The white "I'LL GO ON." dominates the remaining two-thirds, visually reinforcing that determination outweighs defeat.
Jaar is a Chilean-born, New York-based artist known for work about humanitarian crises and global inequality. His projects span installation, photography, and film, addressing topics from the Rwanda genocide to refugee displacement. He's been working since the 1980s.
It's on display at the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) in Florida. The museum sits on Biscayne Bay and focuses on 20th and 21st-century art.
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