As part of research on the etiology of masochism and fetishism for The Case of O, formulations are reductive graphs with mathematical symbols as tools to learn, simplify, memorize information and bring out new links. Formulations are neither entirely personal nor objective. The choice of medium and the making process for formulations is also masochistic and thus paradoxical; they are turned into canvases where each symbol and word is hand-embroidered. Memorizing tools become tactile and action-oriented. On the other hand, the process is too slow to see the bigger picture and is alienating.

 

Derivations are the preverbal versions of the formulations made with the oil-transfer technique. By the making process of simple tracing and the exclusion of words, they contrast the long making hours of the formulations and emphasize the preverbal before language.