| SCIENCE Friday, November 26, 1999 | ||
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Duchamp and Poincaré Renew an Old Acquaintance by Barry Cipra |
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The ready-mades "are altered in much more extensive ways than he let on," Shearer concludes. No one's noticed before, she explains, only because interpretation trumps perception: "You see much more with the mind than you see with the eye." Most Duchamp scholars remain dubious. "All of these photographs [of the ready-mades] are faded and blurred," notes Michael Taylor, curator of 20th century art at the Philadelphia Art Museum, which houses the Large Glass and other Duchampiana. "Rhonda's theories are theories, not facts," adds Dickran Tashjian, an art historian at the University of California, Irvine. The stakes are high. By challenging the view of art as something created by the artist, Duchamp's ready-mades brought about a profound change in art, with repercussions that continue to this day. Shearer's theory that he fabricated the objects "turns Duchamp back into a craftsman," Taylor says. But even her critics think Shearer has done something worthwhile. "She is making us look at Duchamp's works again," Taylor says. In particular, he thinks, her analyses will focus attention on the artist's use of photography. "Duchamp had more of an interest in the camera than we thought," Taylor says. And if she's right about the ready-mades, Tashjian says, " then we have a delicious ironic twist." |
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