Cumul I (La vie coupable)

A woman walks through the snow-covered streets of Paris. An art historian, she is on her way to the museum to see CUMUL I by Louise Bourgeois, the subject of one of her student’s research projects. But what gives her the authority to interpret this work of contemporary art when her own expertise lies in nineteenth-century Nordic painting? As she wanders through the city, the relentless flow of her thoughts draws the audience into a haunting meditation on identity, imposture, desire, and the relationship to the Other. Even before it comes into view, the sculpture seems to inhabit her consciousness. Commissioned by the Centre Pompidou, Laura-Ève Lambert’s text evokes the artwork less through description than through the echoes and resonances it awakens.Note: Since the publication of Cumul I by Héliotrope, Kev Lambert has adopted the name Laura-Ève Lambert.