Marcel Duchamp. - book review

Arts & Activities, June, 2002 by Jerome J. Hausman

(1999; $14.95), by Dawn Ades, Neil Cox and David Hopkins. Thames & Hudson Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110.

For teachers in middle and high schools, Marcel Duchamp's artworks pose problems and opportunities in the classroom. Without question, he is one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century. According to this book's authors, this artist's "most lasting impact [has] been the questions raised by the ready-mades and their offshoots, the rejection of painting as a privileged artistic activity and the withdrawal from an art career as a profession." As they stated, "this book concerns his actual work that had, and still has, such a profound effect on the ways of thinking about and making art."

Duchamp's association with ready-mades reached its height following his arrival in the United States; they were first exhibited in 1916. Ironically, these forms (important in discussing Surrealist and Dada styles) were initially intended as forms for dumping the possibility of defending art. They are works that require no manual skill, no technique--their power is in the concept! A key point being made is that the work of art cannot exist without the spectator. "All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act."

This book is well written, illustrated and documented. It will serve as an invaluable resource for teachers who are interested in exploring some of the major issues involved in the question, "what is art?"--J.J.H. For information about this publication, circle No. 390 on the Reader Service Card.