No-State
1981

Bruce Nauman created No-State and its counterpart, No, in 1981 at the Gemini G.E.L. (Graphic Editions Limited), an artists’ workshop and publisher of limited edition prints in Los Angeles, California. Here, the boldly printed "No" dominates the work—one of the few instances in which Nauman used a print to depict a single word. Describing works like this one, the artist stated, "[in] certain cases, some of the word prints become objects. When that happens, they get very close to being signs you could hang on the wall—just like that exit sign over there." In composing the print, Nauman most likely used a large grease stick to draw the letters and lithographic crayons to create the lush, gestural strokes. No-State was made with two layers of ink—first a layer of white ink, then a layer of black ink. In No, the printing was carried out in reverse order: an aluminum plate covered in black ink was initially printed onto the paper ground, followed by a lithographic stone with white ink.