Duchamp And The Mechanics Of Desire

I had planned some time ago to do a post on Marcel Duchamp, accumulated the necessary images, and failed to construct the post. This is not the only instance of such wasted effort. As luck would have it, a recent reverie concerning Duchamp and his admiration for American Plumbing and Engineering reminded me of how much enjoyment I've had of late, watching his films and looking at his art. It struck me as silly that people were not better able to recognize the sincerity of his satisfaction in good industrial design; but what I now see as almost obvious comes after many years of study and many years of others writing about his work. I thought of him sitting at one of those inventors fairs where he was hawking his goods to little attention (but greatly enjoying the atmosphere) and it seemed a good time to pay tribute to his understanding of the mechanics of sexual desire and the importance of frustration in love. The last image presented here is, of course, not by Duchamp, but by me. I wanted to present an instance of my having learned by his example. It was made, in large part, as my homage to Étant Donnés.