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Dear Tout-Fait,
This
question is in my mind and it drives me crazy...
Is the Bicycle Wheel a readymade?
One of
my first contacts with the work of Marcel Duchamp was an interview he
gave (in French) in the late 60s. He explained very well what the idea
behind a readymade is. He also explained the process that led to the
Bicycle Wheel.
I remember
that he said he used to live in a small apartment in Paris and he wanted
to have a fire to warm the place, and also because it would have been
nice to have a fire in this small apartment. As he didn't have any "cheminee
de coin," he couldn't have any fire. He came up with the Bicycle
Wheel on the "tabouret" because moving the wheel reminded him of
the movement and sound of a fire. Knowing
that, I was a bit confused, as that could mean that the Bicycle Wheel's
purpose is to "imitate" a fire.
When
Miro takes two plates, a rock and a rack and places them together so
that they look like a strange personnage, no one says it is a readymade.
And I agree. Its purpose is to imitate or give birth to a poetic living
form. It is on purpose that this living form looks human in some way
(to make it easier for us to understand, maybe).
Anyway,
I don't see so many differences between Miro and his plates and rocks,
and Marcel Duchamp and his Bicycle Wheel (I am only talking about
the Bicycle Wheel, I understand why the Bottlerack, for
example, is a readymade).
I know
you might be wondering why I am sending this question to Tout-Fait.
Well, you are actually the only person I know who might be able to correct
me, and also, it is an opportunity to thank you for the journal. I was
very happy to read all of the articles, and really stoned by the news
concerning the copies and the 3 Standard Stoppages (!!).
Thanks
for the help, and I can't wait to read the second edition of Tout-Fait.
Yassine Ghalem
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