Duchamp and Philosophy of Art – From the Field of Possibilities

elective monographs

(in Polish) Bierna znajomość języka angielskiego. Orientacja w głównych nurtach filozofii współczesnej.

Classroom

Duchamp suggests to replace the traditional question „What is art?” with the question: “What are conditions of creation of art?”. Duchamp’s oeuvre functions in a contemporary discourse on art, as an example of the “aesthetic cut” It is an object of study and inquiry of such different philosophers and theoreticians of art as: Arthur C. Danto, Jean-François Lyotard, Thierry de Duve, Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Hans Belting, Jean Clair, Marjorie Perloff, Linda Henderson, Georges Didi-Huberman. The attempt of philosophical interpretation of Duchamp’s body of work will enable us to treat it as an open field of possibilities for different critical languages. During the lecture, we will touch upon such problems as: theory of Avant-garde and problematics of modernity, changes in aesthetic experience and its status, time and space in art, resemblance and difference, reproduction of artworks, medium specificity, senses and corporeality, judgments of taste, art-science relations.

Over hundred years passed since the Society of Independent Artists rejected the work entitled Fountain by unknown artist Richard Mutt. Marcel Duchamp – who was working under this pseudonym and had been present during the deliberations of the organizing committee – wrote in response to charges presented by his colleagues: “Whether Mr. Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or is of no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object”. This short quotation presents a number of problems any contemporary theory of art should confront: the problem of artifactuality of the work of art and problems concerning artistic (re)production; the problem of a work’s context and the difference between artistic and instrumental value; the challenge of conceptual art for aesthetic theory; and also a question of the relationship between an aesthetic theory and aesthetic experience.

Duchamp’s oeuvre functions in a contemporary discourse on art as a paradigm of radical change, as an example of the “aesthetic cut” (an analogue to the “epistemic cut”). It is an object of study and inquiry of such different philosophers and theoreticians of art as: Arthur C. Danto, Jean-François Lyotard, Thierry de Duve, Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Hans Belting, Jean Clair, Marjorie Perloff, Linda Henderson, Georges Didi-Huberman. With Duchamp’s suggestion that artist creates „cervellites” (‘brain facts’) the new path has been traced which allows to reflect upon conceptual structure of art. It is difficult to investigate though because it is closely related to transformations of qualitative order.

We will closely consider Duchamp’s oeuvre interpreting it as the open field of possibilities for various critical languages. We will treat Duchamp’s strategy as a gesture of virtualization of art that transports it into the space of constant transformations. The artist becomes initiator of various transformations inscribed into the work of art.

During the lecture we will touch upon such topics as: theory of avant-garde and problems of artistic modernity, changes of aesthetic experience, space and time in art, similitude and difference, reproduction of artworks, medium specificity, senses and corporeality in aesthetic experience, judgments of taste, relations between art and science

Belting Hans, “Looking Through Duchamp’s Door”, Koln 2010 ; tegoż “Invisible Masterpiece”, Chicago 2001.

Bourdieu Pierre, „Reguły sztuki”, przeł. A Zawadzki, Kraków 2007.

Bürger Peter, “Teoria awangardy”, przeł. J. Kita-Huber, Kraków 2006.

Buskirk Martha red., „The Duchamp Effect”, London 1996.

Cabanne Pierre, „Dialogues with Marcel Duchamp”, New York 1987.

Clair Jean, “Duchamp et la photographie”, Paris 1977; tegoż “Marcel duchamp ou le grand fictif”, Paris 1975.

Damisch Hubert, “Duchamp Defense”, przeł. R. Krauss, w: “October”, vol. 10 (Autumn),1979.

Danto Arthur C., “Marcel Duchamp and the End of Taste: A Defense of Contemporary Art” , tegoż „Po końcu sztuki. Sztuka współczesna i zatarcie się granic tradycji”, przeł. M. Salwa, Kraków 2013.

de Duve Thierry, “Kant After Duchamp” 1996; tegoż “Pictorial Nominalism. On Marcel Duchamp’s Passage from Painting to the Readymade”, przeł. D. Polan, 1991

Deleuze Gilles, Guattari Felix, “Anty-Edyp. Kapitalizm i schizofrenia” przeł. T. Kaszubski, Warszawa 2017

Demos T.J., „The Exiles of Marcel Duchamp”, London 2007.

Derrida Jacques, “Glas”, przeł. J.P. Leavey, R. Rand, 1986

Didi-Huberman Georges, “La ressemblance par contact”, Paris 2008.

Duchamp Marcel, “The Essential Writings of Marcel Duchamp”, red. M. Sanouillet, E. Peterson, London 1975.

Foster Hal, “Prosthetic Gods”, Cambridge, London 2004.

Henderson Linda, “Duchamp in Context: Science and Technology in ‘Large Glass’ and Related Works”, Princeton 1998.

Krauss Rosalind, “Optical Unconsciousness”, Cambridge, London 1993.

Lyotard Jean-François, “Écrits sur l’art contemporain et les artistes, vol. III, Les Transformateurs Duchamp/Duchamp’s TRANS/ formers”, red. H. Parret, Leuven 2010.

Paz Octavio, “Marcel Duchamp. Apperance Stripped Bare”, przeł. R. Philips, New York 1990.

Perloff Marjorie, „Konceptualna poetyka Marcela Duchampa” w: tejże, “Modernizm XXI wieku. Nowe poetyki”, przeł. K. Bartczak, T. Cieślak-Sokołowski, Kraków 2012

Schwarz Arturo, „The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp”, London 1969

Tomkins Calvin, „Duchamp. Biografia”, przeł. I. Chlewińska, Poznań 2001.

Knowledge:

Student knows about philosophical conditions of avant-garde practice and avant-garde’s main tendentions.

Student knows how different modernist developments in science, art and philosophy communicate with each other.

Student is acquainted with main theoretical problems of Marcel Duchamp’s art practice, its influence on contemporary art and its main philosophical interpretations.

Skills:

Student can combine knowledge about theories of contemporary art with analysis of artworks in order to create interpretation.

Student is able to discuss various conceptualizations of Duchamp’s work and defines her/his own standpoint.

Social competences:

Student participates in social and cultural life, interests with innovative philosophical conceptions in connection with other parts of cultural and social life.

Final credit based upon test on educational platform. All the materials and required list of problems will be presented on educational platform.

Permissible number of absences: 2.