This Livro-obra [Book-work] is important because it documents how Lygia Clark (1920–88) sees the major steps in her creative process: from the discovery of the organic line to the dissolution of the concept of “art.” In fact, the artist combines theory and practice in the production of her book-object by suggesting that the reader should fully experience the concepts she discusses. In this present selection of her Livro-obra, the main concepts discussed are her series of works on modulated surfaces, the light-line, the organic line, and the relationship time-space. She is a seminal figure in the field of Brazilian Neo-Concrete art. Furthermore, many of the theoretical concepts espoused by [José Ribamar] Ferreira Gullar (b. 1930)—such as revolutionizing the exhibition space by eliminating the painting’s frame—are based on his close observation of the work of Lygia Clark.
Among the essays that are relevant to this one, see “Cor e estrutura-cor” in which Gullar compares the chromatic experiments conducted by Hélio Oiticica and Aluísio Carvão with the work of Lygia Clark[see ICAA digital archive, doc. no. 1091219]; also see another relevant essay by this same author, “Do quadro ao não-objeto,” in which he follows the evolution of Clark’s work from her Concrete works to her Neo-Concrete independence (see doc. no. 1091272). Another text that obviously should be read is Gullar’s famous article, published in March 1959, the “Manifesto Neoconcreto” (see doc. no. 1110328); and subsequently, the "Teoria do não-objeto,” in which he classified works that could not be pigeonholed according to traditional definitions of painting or sculpture; (see doc. no. 1091374).