An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look "abstract" any longer.
I would have to think about it for two or three months before I decided to do something which would have meaning. And it would have to be more than just an impression or pleasure. I would need an objective, a meaning. That is the only thing that could help me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Duchamp emphasizes the importance of deep thought and purpose in creating meaningful work.
In this quote, Marcel Duchamp reflects on the need for careful contemplation when approaching creative endeavors. He suggests that true artistic expression requires more than superficial enjoyment; it demands a clear objective or meaning that can provide guidance and significance to the work produced. This perspective highlights the intellectual rigor that can underlie artistic creation, advocating for a deliberate approach rather than hasty decisions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the creative process, you could use this quote to illustrate the importance of thoughtful consideration.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Similar quotes
Like a cartoon world, where the figures are flat and outlined in black, jerking through some kind of goofy story that might be real funny if it weren't for the cartoon figures being real guys.
Every day look at a beautiful picture, read a beautiful poem, listen to some beautiful music, and if possible, say some reasonable thing.
I adore adverbs; they are the only qualifications I really much respect.
The only condition of fighting for the right to create is faith in your own vocation, readiness to serve, and refusal to compromise.
Bring something incomprehensible into the world!
Landscape is to American painting what sex and psychoanalysis are to the American novel.