Given: 1. Soundpiece
« Like Saint-Pol-Roux, who used to hang inscription ’ poet is working’ from his door while he slept, Duchamp used to say that he was not doing anything except breathing - and when he was breathing, he was working. His obsessions and his myths were working with him: inaction is * condition of inner activity. »
- Octavio Paz, Marcel Duchamp: Appearance Stripped Bare
- Graphic « In general picture is * apparition of an appearance. »
- Marcel Duchamp, Green Box
Liner notes to The Music of Marcel Duchamp
by Petr Kotik
In the turbulent years from 1912 to 1915, Marcel Duchamp, one of the most important artists of this century, worked with musical ideas. He composed two works of music and a conceptual piece — a note suggesting a musical happening. Of the two compositions, one is for three voices and the other combines a piece for a mechanical instrument with a description of the compositional system.
Although Marcel Duchamp’s musical oeuvre is sparse, these pieces represent a radical departure from anything done up until that time. Duchamp anticipated with his music something that then became apparent in the visual arts, especially in the Dada Movement: the arts are here for all to create, not just for skilled professionals. Duchamp’s lack of musical training could have only enhanced his exploration in compositions. His pieces are completely independent of the prevailing musical scene around 1913.
The pieces by Marcel Duchamp are all different. Two of them have been composed with chance operations, but in each case the method is different. The third piece is just a short note on a small, stray piece of paper. It is not possible to precisely date these pieces, but it is almost certain that they were all written in 1913.
Contributo di
Juan Pablo Macías