Duchamp and the Aesthetics of Chance

Duchamp and the Aesthetics of Chance is one of those rare studies which, by exhaustively treating one key work, puts into new perspective an artist's entire oeuvre. More than that, in a period when art-historical discussions are highly theory-oriented, though often at the expense of basic research, Herbert Molderings has undertaken an exceptionally well balanced investigation through which a new and painstakingly accurate evaluation of the material and historical evidence translates into a brilliant exposition of the philosophical ramifications of this evidence. -- Ulrich Keller, University of California, Santa Barbara The net result of Herbert Molderings's analysis--subtle, thorough, careful in its sources, and beautifully measured-is a reading of Marcel Duchamp's work that gives it historical terms and endless complexity. Duchamp and the Aesthetics of Chance is model art-historical work. -- Molly Nesbit, Vassar College

Marcel Duchamp is often viewed as an "artist-engineer-scientist," a kind of rationalist who relied heavily on the ideas of the French mathematician and philosopher Henri Poincare. Yet a complete portrait of Duchamp and his multiple influences draws a different picture. In his 3 Standard Stoppages (1913-1914), a work that uses chance as an artistic medium, we see how far Duchamp subverted scientism in favor of a radical individualistic aesthetic and experimental vision. Unlike the Dadaists, Duchamp did more than dismiss or negate the authority of science. He pushed scientific rationalism to the point where its claims broke down and alternative truths were allowed to emerge. With humor and irony, Duchamp undertook a method of artistic research, reflection, and visual thought that focused less on beauty than on the notion of the "possible." He became a passionate advocate of the power of invention and thinking things that had never been thought before. The 3 Standard Stoppages is the ultimate realization of the play between chance and dimension, visibility and invisibility, high and low art, and art and anti-art. Situating Duchamp firmly within the literature and philosophy of his time, Herbert Molderings recaptures the spirit of a frequently misread artist-and his thrilling aesthetic of chance.