An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look "abstract" any longer.
Marcel DuchampRead
What am I? Do I know? I am a man: quite simply, a 'breather.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the essence of human existence and self-awareness.
In this quote, Marcel Duchamp poses fundamental questions about identity and existence. By simplistically defining himself as a 'breather,' he reduces the complexities of being a human to the act of living and breathing, prompting a reflection on what it truly means to exist and the nature of self-awareness.
Themes
IdentityExistenceSelf-AwarenessPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussing existentialism, this quote can spark a conversation about the nature of human existence.
More from Marcel Duchamp
All quotes βAll this twaddle, the existence of God, atheism, determinism, liberation, societies, death, etc., are pieces of a chess game called language, and they are amusing only if one does not preoccupy oneself with 'winning or losing this game of chess.
Marcel DuchampRead
I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art - and much more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social position.
Marcel DuchampRead
I never finished the 'Large Glass' because, after working on it for eight years, I probably got interested in something else; also, I was tired. It may be that, subconsciously, I never intended to finish it because the word 'finish' implies an acceptance of traditional methods and all the paraphernalia that accompany them.
Marcel DuchampRead
It's a product of two poles - there's the pole of the one who makes the work, and the pole of the one who looks at it. I give the latter as much importance as the one who makes it.
Marcel DuchampRead
I became a librarian at the Sainte-Genevieve Library in Paris. I made this gesture to rid myself of a certain milieu, a certain attitude, to have a clean conscience, but also to make a living. I was twenty-five. I had been told that one must make a living, and I believed it.
Marcel DuchampRead
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