James Housefield, Associate Professor of Design, in celebration of the centennial of Duchamp’s readymades, presented “Marcel Duchamp et les readymades” February 3, 2016 at the Boston University, Paris

On or around January 15, 1916, French artist Marcel Duchamp sent a letter to his sister Suzanne in Paris. “Now, if you have been up to my place you will have seen, in the studio, a bicycle wheel and a bottle rack. I bought this as a ready-made sculpture…” Duchamp had begun the group of works he identified as readymades earlier, in 1913, although the letter of January 1916 presents the earliest evidence of his decision to apply the term readymade – borrowed from the garment manufacturing and fashion retailing trades – to his revolutionary new art. Like ready-to-wear clothing that did not need to be tailored by hand to fit an individual, Duchamp’s readymades were mass-produced objects that did not need to be crafted by the artist’s hand. What counted, instead, was the act of choice – the artist chose the readymades, thus confirming their status within his creative output or oeuvre. In the century since 1916, the readymades have had a greater impact on art than any other innovation, and Duchamp (the “artist of the century”) has been hailed as the most influential creator for subsequent generations of contemporary artists. In a talk based on his forthcoming book (Playing with Earth and Sky: Astronomy, Geography, and the Art of Marcel Duchamp, to be published by Dartmouth College Press and the UPNE in July 2016), Professor James Housefield will celebrate the centennial of the readymade by situating it in relation to Duchamp’s engagement with aviation. Emphasizing the original identity of the readymades as mass-produced industrial objects, Professor Housefield sees Duchamp’s naming of the readymade genre as a key moment in the artist’s career. Through the readymades Duchamp began to shift modern artist’s work away from the crafting of unique objects in favor of the creation of experiences. Paradoxically, such experiences could encompass physical and cerebral sensations simultaneously.

Professor Housefield’s talk relates to his continuing research into the relations between art and design, with an emphasis on the design of experiences and the importance of creating with audience experience in mind. Join him to explore similar themes in his class DES 040C, “Design for Aesthetics and Experiences,” in Spring 2016 (lecture meets 9-9:50 am MWF, with one additional discussion section per week).