Ascending and descending
lithograph, 1960, 38 x 28.5 cm

A rectangular inner courtyard is bounded by a building that is roofed by a never ending stairway. The inhabitants of these living-quarters would appear to be monks, adherents of some unknown sect. Perhaps it is their ritual duty to climb those stairs for a few hours each hour each day. It would seem that when they get tired they are allowed to turn about and go downstairs instead of up. Yet both directions, though not without meaning, are equally useless. Two recalcitrant individuals refuse, for the time being, to take part in this exercise. They have no use for it at all, but no doubt sooner or later they will be brought to see the error of their noncomformity.