Kyle asked me to visit Duchamp’s Study for Chess Player in the Guggenheim. But much to my frustration, this painting was displayed in a closed area of the museum. My initial response was “no problem” because I knew I could see the actual painting in the MOMA. But this particular painting is not on view at this time. Since his paintings were not available, I chose to visit one of Duchamp’s well known sculptures Bicycle Wheel. He originated this work in 1913, placing a bicycle wheel upside down on a stool, but that work was lost. The one on display at the MoMA was made in 1951.This artwork falls into the category Duchamp called Readymades. The Abridged Dictionary of Surrealism attributes this definition of readymade to Duchamp: "an ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist" (qtd. in Hector Obalk’s “The Unfindable Readymade”). Speaking of Bicycle Wheel, Duchamp stated that he liked to stare at the spinning wheel: “I enjoyed looking at it, just as I enjoy looking at the flames dancing in a fireplace. . . . It was a pleasant gadget, pleasant for the movement it gave” ("Bicycle Wheel," MoMA Collection website). How do you think this work accomplishes Duchamp’s desire to elevate ordinary objects to works of art? What do you think this elevation accomplishes?
While this probably isn't one of my favorite works of art, I did happen to see one thing that caught my eye in this piece. The shadow that is cast by the stool and wheel onto the white ground beneath is actually quite interesting. It sparked my imagination to see how everything has it's own shadows; distorting reality and become something quite different in the absence of light.
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