Playing with Earth and Sky: Astronomy, Geography, and the Art of Marcel Duchamp (Interfaces: Studies in Visual Culture) - Hardcover

Housefield, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1611689562 ISBN 13: 9781611689563

Publisher: Dartmouth College Press, 2016

Synopsis

Playing with Earth and Sky reveals the significance astronomy, geography, and aviation had for Marcel Duchamp―widely regarded as the most influential artist of the past fifty years. Duchamp transformed modern art by abandoning unique art objects in favor of experiences that could be both embodied and cerebral. This illuminating study offers new interpretations of Duchamp’s momentous works, from readymades to the early performance art of shaving a comet in his hair. It demonstrates how the immersive spaces and narrative environments of popular science, from museums to the modern planetarium, prepared paths for Duchamp’s nonretinal art. By situating Duchamp’s career within the transatlantic cultural contexts of Dadaism and Surrealism, this book enriches contemporary debates about the historical relationship between art and science. This truly original study will appeal to a broad readership in art history and cultural studies.

About this title

About the Author

JAMES HOUSEFIELD is associate professor in the Department of Design, and on the graduate faculties in art history, French, and performance studies, University of California, Davis.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dartmouth College Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1611689562
• ISBN 13: 9781611689563
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312