Fountain - Presentation An Overview of the Seventeen Known Versions of Fountain: What does the author set out to do through the text? It is a short presentation of the known reproductions of Duchamp’s Fountain, either made by himself or other artists. What are the central questions that the author is addressing? By listing the known replicas we get a sense of the work’s spread in the art world considering locations and specifically institutions, such as National Galleries and auction houses, like Sotheby’s. This shows how its reputation and acceptance as an artwork developed from a rejected object into a kind of phenomenon. What kind of information does the author provide to support her/his argument? The timeline form also provides a clear view on the time gap between the original’s creation and the time that the audience started to take interest in it. Especially the proliferation of its replicas during 1960s. What role does the ‘object’ play in the argument, if any? It also well represents the different possibilities in the ways of its exhibition. We know how Duchamp lightheartedly hanged it upside-down above a door with a mistletoe in it during an exhibition, but other ways, such as its display in a glass box or being hanged from the ceiling by wires introduces the many possibilities there are in its understanding as a work of art. Authorship and Identity: What does the author set out to do through the text? The chapter concentrates on how Duchamp deconstructed the Vasarian idea of the author and his relation to the work of art. As for Vasari and the tradition of (the western) culture ever since, they considered the author of art as the one and only authority over the creation and meaning of a work. This is set to be replaced by Duchamp’s consciously crafted uncertainty over his authorship that manifested in different aspects. What are the central questions that the author is addressing? The text’s main focus is how Duchamp is questioning the work as a single entity springing uncomplicatedly from one authorial source. He did that through either the very form of an object (such as the readymades), or the form of his signature, accompanying the works as a kind of written commentary on authorship: ‘[from] MARCEL DUCHAMP 1916 1917’ in Apolinere Enameled. What role does the ‘object’ play in the argument, if any? His different works represent different realisations of this uncertainty in his role as an author and his works as original creations. By ‘creating’ readymades: mass produced objects or facsimile in place of the traditional ‘unique’ painting or sculpture; by their nature their originality is questioned. In this sense are mentioned, Bottlerack as an entirely undefined artwork or Bicycle Wheel. In Addition Duchamp further develops the uncertainty by his use of pseudonyms as pluralisation of his authorship and person. His female alter ego, Rrose Selavy, R. Mutt, and others are used to fragment the straightforward association of an individual artist with a single work of art. Works, such as Wanted or Fountain, are examined in the text such way. e.g..: refers to Wanted as “changeability, capriciousness and fugitiveness broached here under the rub of authorship” Also mentions the role of the boxes/traveling museums: creating a confusing and barely intelligible array of content, unlike with books where the author sets the direction of the work’s handling. What concepts and methodologies are being deployed here? Barthes’s and Foucault’s notions of authorship is in strong connection with Duchamp’s ideas. Most prominently expressed in his way of signature, using the word ‘from’ instead of ‘by’ as if his own role in the creation of the artwork is only a mediating one. What assumptions underlie the author’s reasoning? What are the implications/consequences of the author’s argument? Is the text tied to any particular historical moment? What are the key conclusions?
