La loi d'accommodation chez les borgnes "sursum corda" (film en 3 parties)

First edition, one of 15 copies printed on japon impérial, most limited deluxe issue.

Bradel binding with grey box spine, front board in plexiglass revealing the original cover, back board in grey box, original wrappers and spine preserved, housed in a soft grey paper chemise lined with light grey felt; unsigned binding by Mercher.

Illustrated with three original lithographs, including the original colour illustration on the cover.

Discreet repairs to the head of the front wrapper, which also shows slight sunning along the left margin.

A very rare and beautiful deluxe copy of this major scenario for an imaginary Dadaist film by Picabia: “I ask each of my readers to stage and film for themselves on the screen of their imagination [...] record for yourselves while reading La Loi d’accommodation chez les borgnes; all seats are the same price, and you can smoke without bothering your neighbours.” (Picabia, preface).

This work related to his celebrated Dada piece L’Œil Cacodylate, directly references the theme of distorted vision — a significant inspiration for Picabia, who suffered from ophthalmic shingles: “The title of the scenario itself (La Loi d’accommodation chez les borgnes) can be seen as an (ironic or humorous) echo of the visual processes explored in his latest works. Depth perception requires two eyes. The lack of stereoscopic vision in monocular vision results in a flat image, and the brain must work harder to construct a sense of relief.” (Bernard Marcadé, Francis Picabia Rastaquouère, p. 390)

Our copy includes an autograph letter by the publisher confirming to the recipient that the work is complete and does indeed include two illustrations by Francis Picabia (in addition to the cover), contrary to what Skira indicated in his bibliography.

The scenario-book La Loi d’accommodation is perhaps the most Dada of all films, as it is a non-film made of paper, with shifting typefaces, inviting the reader to direct the film within their own mind. Its avant-garde, farcical narrative evokes a parody of Marcel L’Herbier’s L’Inhumaine, and has been compared to Duchamp’s La Mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires même: an immensely wealthy manicurist is courted by seven suitors, including a legless man, an American billionaire, a priest, a police officer, etc. The legless man prevails by eliminating his rivals one by one:

“This farce perpetuates the anarchic spirit of Entr’acte. One senses Picabia’s admiration for Louis Feuillade’s Fantômas and slapstick cinema in general, with tones and intensity akin to Un chien andalou, the film Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí were currently preparing” (ibid., p. 388).

The original cover belongs to Picabia’s renowned “Transparences” series, in which overlapping shapes and figures are set against a signature blue background — visually echoing the techniques employed in the text: “This scenario playfully indulges in processes of substitution and superposition, like the film’s heroine, the manicurist, who, once back home and in bed, dreams of two of her suitors, “the American (jewels, luxury, Rolls Royce)” and the “Cyclist (love, tandem rides, picnics).” The two merge, superimpose, climb atop one another like acrobats, collapse simultaneously, and are reduced to scattered limbs which the legless man piles into his cart and speeds away with — everything fades” (ibid., p. 389—390).

A superb and exceptionally rare copy of this artist’s book and nihilist screenplay by Picabia: “his writing, throughout his artistic trajectory, remained inseparable from his pictorial engagement” (Patrice Delbourg, Les jongleurs de mots).