Tate Papers Spring 2005 | From the Green Box to Typo/Topography: Duchamp and Hamiltons Dialogue in Print
Marcel Duchamp
The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors Even, (The Green Box) 1934 [front cover]
In 1934 Marcel Duchamp - or more accurately his alter ego Rrose Sélavy - published in green felt covered boxes ninety-four loose notes relating to the development and function of his magnum opus The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors Even, known familiarly as ‘The Large Glass’ (figs.1, 2). As well as being perceived as a kind of literary publication, the Green Box, as it has become known, can be - but seldom is - classified as a work of art in fine print. When viewed in this context, however, it is evident that the work bears many of the common hallmarks of a twentieth-century artist’s print publication. It was produced in a printing medium carefully chosen by the artist to best convey the conceptual aims of the piece. The quality of the paper stocks and inks were integral to the success of the work, and although not actually printed by the artist himself, Duchamp closely supervised all aspects of production. The main element, however, that set the work apart from other fine art print works of the time was its use of photomechanical, instead of the traditionally sanctioned autographic, printing methods. Here, as with many other aspects of his practice, Duchamp was a pioneer: the use of photomechanical print as a creative medium did not significantly enter the realm of fine-art printmaking until the late-1950s and early 1960s.
