Marcel Duchamp Discusses the Readymade
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Marcel Duchamp Discusses the Readymade

Marcel Duchamp at the Walker Art Center, 1965. Photo: Eric Sutherland

Fifty-five years ago, Marcel Duchamp visited Minneapolis for a discussion with then-Walker director Martin Friedman on the Readymade, his conception of art that repurposes an “object of complete indifference as far as aesthetics are concerned.” He explained, “That indifference is very difficult because there’s always some detail in any object that will attract you aesthetically, meaning that you find it either beautiful or ugly. Ugly or beautiful is the same thing when it comes to choosing an object in the form of a Readymade.”

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