The Laws of Nature

Cat. No. 350a-354a (fabric)

The Laws of Nature

Date:
2006
Themes
Fabric Works, Figures
Techniques
Drypoint
Dimensions:
page: 9 1/16 x 9 5/8" (23 x 24.5 cm); overall: 9 13/16 x 11 5/8 x 1 9/16" (25 x 29.5 x 4 cm)
Signature:
"Louise Bourgeois" lower right center colophon, black ink.
Publisher
Harlan & Weaver
Printer
Harlan & Weaver
Printer of Text
SOLO Impression
Edition:
10; plus 3 A.P., 2 P.P., and an edition on paper of 25 with 8 A.P., 6 P.P., 2 H.C., 1 B.A.T., 1 T.P.
Edition Information:
Outside the published illustrated book editions on fabric (2006) and on paper (2003), there are several additional unpublished but signed formats: a series on fabric, printed in black, in 2 known examples; a series on fabric, printed in red, in 1 known example; and a series printed on a scarf, with plates in a different order, printed in black. (See Related Works in the Catalogue, below.) The states of the plates within the various series sometimes differ from the states of the plates within the published editions.

There are also two sets of plates, printed in red, with no signatures. One set, from c. 2003, is on silk; the other, from c. 2006, is on paper. Since the prints in these sets have no signatures, the sets are not considered to be completed series.
Impression:
"a.p." lower right colophon, black ink, unknown hand.
Background:
The artist told printer Felix Harlan that the figures in this series are playing an adult version of a French children's game, known as "faire des galipettes," meaning to do somersaults. In fact, the expression "faire des galipettes" is also slang for having sex, a punning reference that Bourgeois must have enjoyed.
Curatorial Remarks:
The colophon states that the title page and colophon were designed by The Grenfell Press, New York, and printed lithographically by SOLO Impression, New York. Further, it states that SOLO Impression also sewed the embroidery and buttonhole binding.

The colophon states that the backing cloth for each page is from the artist's personal linen collection, and that the printed cloth was dyed to match by Dye-namix, NY. (Dyenamix is the preferred spelling for the name of this firm.)

In contrast to the designation "illustrated book," which contains text, this catalogue designates as a "series" those instances where there is no text accompanying a group of related plates.
Description:
Fabric illustrated book with 5 drypoints and engravings, with selective wiping
Pagination:
8 unnumbered sheets: title, text, 5 plates, colophon
Housing:
Detachable, snap and buttonhole binding. Lined felt cover, sewn together at front and back edges of spine. "LB" center cover, stitched in red thread. Publisher's slipcase: white, corrugated cardboard, with letterpress name and title plate, made by Mark Tomlinson, Easthampton. MA.
Installation Remarks:
Installation should include all plates, displayed sequentially.
Other Remarks:
Publisher Harlan & Weaver stated that SOLO Impression machine-sewed the individual pages of this volume, and that Mercedes Katz made the covers by hand and stitched the "LB" on the front cover. Katz was a seamtress hired by Bourgeois, who worked in the artist's residence starting in 1999.
Author Information:
Paulo Herkenhoff is a Brazilian curator and critic who had a longstanding friendship, and professional relationship, with Bourgeois.
MoMA Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
MoMA Accession Number:
566.2013.1-5
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY

From the illustrated book

Untitled, plate 2 of 5, from the illustrated book, The Laws of Nature
Untitled, plate 3 of 5, from the illustrated book, The Laws of Nature
Untitled, plate 4 of 5, from the illustrated book, The Laws of Nature
Untitled, plate 5 of 5, from the illustrated book, The Laws of Nature
Untitled, plate 1 of 5, from the illustrated book, The Laws of Nature

Related Works in the Catalogue

The Laws of Nature
The Laws of Nature
The Laws of Nature
The Laws of Nature
The Laws of Nature

Related Works in Other Mediums

Couple
Couple
The Couple
Le Bateau Adulte Enfant(The Laws of Nature)
Publication Excerpts

Paulo Herkenhoff,

Notes on the Laws of Nature,

2003

Desire challenges the laws of nature. It defies the rules of anatomy, gravity, time, and language. In the encounter between the body and desire, muscles and tissues gain elasticity and tonus, migrating beyond the logic of corporeal boundaries. Body language is the utterance of the unspeakable.

There is silence in desire. In the melody of the pas de deux, the bodies write themselves. One is inscribed in the other. The dance of desire is the calligraphy of seduction.

The language of the body is a topological choreography similar to a Moebius strip, where the actual continuity of One and the Other is a surface without inside and outside. What estrangement is possible? Fusion fears separation while phantoms anticipate it, leading lovers to melancholic fantasies of incorporation. It is the eve of loss. One body nourishes while one is nourished.

A print is the memory of the body of the Other in our body. The act of turning a page reiterates the action of lightly touching the Other. The dance of love passes through our fingers. Closing this book is wrapping the body in the memory of a precious moment.

Desire wants no end. Lovers experience suspended time. Amor fugit. The only fragile defense against time is the poetical belief in the imaginary quality of love as being eternal. The lovers hold each other and will not be separated. At the end, the world is totally upside-down.