The Center for Ongoing Research & Projects

Nathalie Du Pasquier

Kit Nº 5

(Defining Objects Ch. 1)

January 9th - February 8th, 2016

  • Nathalie Du Pasquier

On the other hand, things are hemmed in by the pressure of solid bodies in a tight mass. This is because there is vacuity in things. A grasp of this fact will be helpful to you in many respects and will save you from questioning about the universe and from mistrust of my teaching. Well then, by vacuity I mean intangible and empty space. If it did not exist, things could not move at all. For the distinctive action of matter, which is counteraction and obstruction, would be in force always and everywhere. Nothing could proceed, because nothing would give it a starting-point by receding. As it is, we see with our own eyes at sea and on land and high up in the sky that all sorts of things in all sorts of ways are on the move. If there were no empty space, these things would be denied the power of restless movement — or rather, they could not possibly have come into existence, embedded as they would have been in motionless matter.

Lucretius, The Nature of the Universe



About the Artist

Nathalie Du Pasquier was born in Bordeaux in 1957, she has lived in Milan since 1979. Until 1986, she worked as a designer and was a founding member of the Italian design group Memphis, creating “decorated surfaces”: textiles, carpets, plastic laminates as well as furniture and objects. In 1987 painting became her main activity. Her work has been shown around the world. Recent solo exhibitions include: it is hard to get excited about a growth of less than 3% with no sign of imminent improvement at Chamber NYC, New York and The Big Game, Exile, Berlin. A collection of her drawings from the 1980’s, entitled Don’t Take These Drawings Seriously, was published by powerHouse Books in 2015.

Defining Objects