Marcel Duchamp (b. 1887, France – d. 1968, France)
Mile of String, 1942

I am breaching my rule again, having another entry on Duchamp. My previous one (#136) was peculiarly vague in its pertinence, but with time I keep finding more and more aspects that I find most relevant in a number of his works and texts.

Mile of String – along with a noisy bunch of kids that Duchamp had to play at the venue during the opening – made retrospective exhibition of surrealism nearly inaccessible. Some reports interpret it as critique of surrealism, others are looking for deeper meaning in play and playfulness.

For me it relates to “Too Little Too Much”, the denial of [easy/conventional] access to that which would conventionally be assumed to be the core of the show. A form of reframing that does not change the object, but limits/changes perception and extraction of meaning. Or just appeals to my juvenile side…