DUCHAMP

Whilst at college in Leicester studying Fine Art under the tutelage and guidance of composer Gavin Bryars and historian Fred Orton we formed a study group who looked specifically at the work of Marcel Duchamp and it was a challenge and a joy to do so. This has meant that Duchamp has cropped up  again recently in various ways as I wanderer around the internet and as he is looked at re-investigated and re-evaulated to a degree and I keep coming across pictures and information that have resonance for me
What follows is no exception and he still fascinates . . . . when is a door not a door?

The threshold separating everyday objects from art objects is an inframince

'Inframince' is a term coined by Marcel Duchamp and which can not be defined. One can only give examples to describe it. It is a central concept in Duchamp’s aesthetic and it refers to the imperceptible difference between two seemingly identical items.

Quote by Horacio Zabala*:

“Of course Duchamp was conscious about the fact that, when taken out of the environment that sets their identity as works of art, the ready-mades could be easily confounded with the functional objects, that they were initially. We know that this happened at least three times”

'Fountain' signed R. Mutt 1917 by Marcel Duchamp 'Readymade' 

Perhaps Duchamp's most famous piece or infamous in that people still struggle with it's meaning and the search thereof!

Duchamp Fountain

“As soon as we start putting our thoughts into words and sentences everything gets distorted, language is just no damn good—I use it because I have to, but I don’t put any trust in it. We never understand each other.” 

― Marcel Duchamp