Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Duchamp's "Large Glass"




Duchamp's "Large Glass" is almost too abstract for me. I feel that just looking at a picture of it online isn't the same as experiencing it in person. Everything is lost and flattened from the piece, losing all meaning. As i researched the piece, i read over a few thoughts from various critics. "Most critics... read the piece as an exploration of male and female desire as they complicate each other ("The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even." pg 1)." I'm not seeing this interpretation at all. The visual analysis of this piece is very confusing to me. There are parts of it that people see, that I just don't. I understand the concept of it, but if I hadn't researched it, I would have no idea where to even begin interpretting it, and I know for a fact that my thoughts on it wouldn't come close to anyone else's. I understand that Duchamp is relating love to science, but it is still very confusing. "Duchamp invents the working parts of these two sexual machines, which are as arbitrary and absurd as the machinery of Roussel which inspired them. Their mechanisms are so complicated that they are usually accompanied by a diagram, which leaves the viewer feeling a little helpless (Mink, "Marcel Duchamp"). The only part of the entire piece that actually makes sense to me is the representation of "the bachelors." It is all supposed to be several parts that work together like a motor, but I just don't see it. I can respect the concept of it, and I think the composition is very pleasing, but overall, I don't like it. But then again, maybe my opinion of "The Large Glass" would change if I actually saw it in person.

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