Life of Marcel Duchamp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Life of wave Duchamp - Essay ExampleThe paper Rrose Slavy, Marcel Duchamp focuses on the important figure of dada and surrealism, Marcel Duchamp. As a child Duchamp was really close to his sister Suzanne (his older pals had left home to go to school), who was his accomplice in games and activities. She was also the object of his prototypic serious attempts at drawing and painting, which showed her in a variety of poses. Also a painter, she moved to Paris after her divorce to be closer to her brother Marcel and as an attempt to further her career, since at that time it was extremely difficult for a female painter to obtain recognition. Indeed, it was her relationship with her brothers, three of them idealistic artists, which facilitated her acceptance in the art world. The famous photographer Man Ray became Duchamps friend and collaborator. Not only he helped Duchamp photograph and create Rrose, he also was instrumental in the development of many other works. It was in collaborati on with him and Marc Allgret in the period 19251926 that Duchamp demanded early versions of Rotoreliefs, a film that later became known as Anmic Cinma. It is worth mentioning an earlier collaboration in 1920, as it almost finished with the decapitation of Man Ray. Duchamp had built the Rotative plaque de verre, a piece which involved the use of a motor to spin squares of glass on which segments of a heap were painted. The optical effect achieved is incredible when the apparatus spins, the circle segments appear to be closed concentric circles. After a first successful attempt, Man Ray set up to photograph the experiment (Duchamp did not consider it art but it is held as one of the first examples of kinetic art) and, when the machine was turned on, a belt broke, caught a piece of the glass which flew shoot and hit Man Ray in the head.ReadymadesMarcel Duchamp coined the term readymades, which was used to refer to ordinary construct objects that he selected, modified and signed. He maintained that by attributing a title to an object and signing it, the object becomes a work of art smARThistory. The term was commonly used in the United States to distinguish manufactured from handmade items. Marcel Duchamp conceived the readymades as an antidote to what he called retinal art, this is, art that has only visual value. Duchamp selected his work according to their conceptual value and on the basis of visual indifference. In this manner, a common object would be elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere natural selection of the artist.In his lifetime, Duchamp-Selavy produced no more than 20 readymades. This decision arises from his awareness of the fact that, by limiting the production he could avoid the influence of his own savouring (according to his words, the enemy of art) in his work. Rrose SlavyFrom 1920, Marcel Duchamp decided to present some of his work using the pseudonym of Rrose Slavy. The choice of name is extravagant to say the least. dick ens potential explanations have been elaborated the first one is that it reads as Eros, cest la vie, which can be translated as Eros, thats life or, a second explanation suggests that it really reads as arroser la vie, i.e. to make a toast to life. Both meanings are equally