Black Drawing 1.2.72

"The 'essence' of the work is the same as in palaeolithic cave painting. The hunter artists drew the beast so that it could be seen and meditated upon when it ws not actually present. In the same way we write a book or make an equation because we are not yet advanced enough to hold it in our heads. That means once you draw a line around your hand and then take your hand away the mark were your hand was exists even though your hand is no longer there. What does exist is an imprint and that is the beginning of art, in there being nothing which is something. Art is the result of thousands of years of thinking how to think." (Bob Law quoted in "Open and Closed Drawings", Bob Law: A Retrospective, London 2009, p. 78.)