Appendix A: The Collection of Notes Duchamp Contemplated in His 1950s Legal Tablet Listings

Henderson, Linda Dalrymple

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Appendix A: The Collection of Notes Duchamp Contemplated in His 1950s Legal Tablet Listings

Linda Dalrymple Henderson

Duchamp in Context: Science and Technology in the Large Glass and Related Works

~The following notes have been compiled on the basis of two legal tablet notes Duchamp made in the late 1950s, which can now be recognized as a numbered catalogue of earlier notes (MDN, notes 250 and 251; see also figs. 187 and 188 herein). Each entry is headed by the...

Author

Linda Dalrymple Henderson

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22473

Appendix A: The Collection of Notes Duchamp Contemplated in His 1950s Legal Tablet Listings

The following notes have been compiled on the basis of two legal tablet notes Duchamp made in the late 1950s, which can now be recognized as a numbered catalogue of earlier notes (MDN, notes 250 and 251; see also figs. 187 and 188 herein). Each entry is headed by the number Duchamp assigned it and by the phrase or phrases he used to refer to it in notes 250 and 251. The English translations used here are based generally on those by Paul Matisse in MDN. If Duchamp recorded a number corresponding to his list in an upper corner of the original note, as he most often did, that numeral is indicated opposite the MDN note number. When the original, handwritten note is illustrated, the figure number immediately follows the MDN note number.

The notes as a group and their dating are discussed in the final section of chapter 14.

1. 1 Principle of contradiction (note 250)

1—Redo literal nominalism (note 251)

Note 185

1

[recto] 1914/Principle of Contradiction./Research on its meaning, and its definition (scholastic, Greek

—Through grammatical simplification, one ordinarily / understands / principle of contradiction to mean, exactly: principle / of non contradiction.

From the Principle of Contradiction, defined only / by these 3 words: i.e. Co-understanding of / Opposites

[abstract], abrogate all sanctions establishing the proof* of this / in relation to its abstract opposite / that / [on the side] *see “Proof”

thus understood, the principle of contradiction / [permits] insists on the abstract uncertainty /the immediate contrast, to the concept A, of / its opposite, B. / develop. Again here, the principle of contradiction / remains constant i.e. contrasts 2 more opposites / By nature, it can contradict its own self / and require.

1. either a return to a logical, non / contradictory continuation. (Plato . . .

2. or the very contradiction, by the principle of contr, the statement / A., against B no longer A’s opposite, / but different (the no. of B’s is infinite, analogous)

[verso] to the plans of a game which would no /longer have rules.)

After having multiplied B. to infinity / the result eventually no longer validates the statement / of A. (A, theorem, is no longer formulated, nor formulatable.) / It liberates the word from definition, from the /ideal meaning. Here again / 2 stages: 1. each word keeps / a present meaning defined only for the / moment by fantasy (sometimes auditory); here the word / almost always keeps its kind; it is either noun / or verb or complement etc. The sentence still has its structure (Literary examples / Rimbaud, Mallarmé)

2. Nominalism [literal] = No more/generic/specific/numeric/distinction between words (tables is/not the plural of table, ate has nothing in/common with eat). No more physical/adaptation of concrete words; no more / conceptual value of abstract words. The/word also loses its musical value. It/is only readable (due to/being made up of consonants and vowels), it is readable/by eye and little by little takes on a form / of plastic significance; it is a sensorial / reality a plastic truth with the same title / as a line, as a group of lines.

[on the side] This plastic existence of the word differs from the plastic existence of any / form whatever (2 lines) as it does from the conventional alphabet.

2. 2 In general the picture is the apparition of an appearance (note 250)

2 apparition and appearance? (note 251)

Note 77 (A circled 2 appears in the upper left corner of the final segment of this note [“General notes, for a hilarious picture—”] which had
been detached and published in the Green Box.)

Text (general notes for the)./Heading the text, like an introductory quote (analogous to those signed / Pascal, Plato, or Ecclesiastes) write a form business letter / e.g.: In reply to your esteemed letter of...inst....I have the honor...

Simplify the spelling: eliminate double letters (as long as / it doesn’t upset the pronunciation. Arrive at a sort of short / hand, avoiding long developments, explanation of a word when / necessary, more its stenographic equation than a / tirade = Avoid all formal lyricism.; let the text be a /catalogue—

clarity i.e. choice of words whose meanings don’t lend themselves to ambiguity/(don’t confuse this clarity with the etymologism of the word.) / avoid etymological research and approximate the current /meaning of the words; use neologisms, slang....

Repeat as in logical proofs, entire / phrases to keep from falling into hermeticism; / that every idea, even the most obscure, can be clearly / understood.

Give the text style of a proof by connecting/the decisions taken by conventional formulae of/inductive reasoning in some cases, deductive in others./Each decision or event in the picture becomes either / an axiom or else a necessary conclusion, according to a /logic of appearance. This logic of appearance will be expressed / only by the style (mathematical formulae, etc.*) / and will not deprive the picture of its character of: plastically imaged mixture of events, because each of these events is an / outgrowth of the general picture.

As an outgrowth, the ev /ent remains definitely only apparent and has no other / pretention than a signification of image (against the sensitivity/to plastic form)

Use the conditional form in the style: Also introduce / some presents, some imperfects to reinforce the proofs—

The / future can give an ironic tone to the sentence—

In parenthetical clauses, or those explicative of a preceding phrase / underline the pronoun which refers to a substantive of that preceding / phrase and also underline that word—

[on the side]* the principles, laws, or phenom. / will be written as / in a theorem / in geometry books. / underlined. etc.

[continuation] Punctuation I the analysis mark .・. or : separating each phrase which/explains the preceding one./< > angle brackets / The small and the large comma. /, I—Enrich the punctuat. to eliminate useless/words.

Text—typed, on good paper leaving the backs/of the pages for demonstration figures (which will be/diagrams of the finished state) or photos retouched/with red, blue ink for the explanation.

In the text, a photo (Fresson) of the picture in black and in / colors (?) very large (double the format of the text) and other/photos of parts, colored.

[note from the Green Box] General notes, for a hilarious picture—/Put the entire bride under glass, or in a trans/parent cage.

Contrary to the old notes, the bride no longer supplies/the gasoline to the breast cylinders, (look for a better name than/“breast cylinders”)

Of hygiene in the bride; or of the Régime in the bride.

only give the juggler 3 feet because 3 points of support are/necessary for stable equilibrium, 2 would only give an/unstable equilibrium

Painting of precision and beauty of indifference.

Solidity of construction:/Equality of superposition: the principal dimensions/of the general foundation of the bride and of the bachelor mach. are/equal.

Directions:/the form (sketch) = space—/the number 3. taken like a refrain in duration/(numb, is mathematical/duration.

Always give or almost the reason for the choice between 2 or more/solutions (through ironic causality).

The ironism of affirmation: differences with the negating ironism de/pendent only on the Laugh.

[on the side] Professor of beer (litany of the carriage)/Principle of subsidized symmetries, (its application in/the motions of the handler/and the “hanged”; see/the “hanged” (female)) In general, the picture is the apparition/of an appearance (see explanation)

3. 3 A mousetrap is like the last stroke (note 250)

4 OK. mousetrap (note 251)

A mousetrap is like the will’s last stroke of the comb before going out

(see MDN, note 252, no. 8; fig. 189A)

4. 4 Lead is the first metal (note 250)

4 OK lead (note 251)

Lead is the first metal

(see MDN, note 252, no. 9; fig. 189A)

5. 5 Possible (?)—and another article on the possible (note 250)

5 OK (only 2nd part) (note 251)

Note 82 (A circled 5 appears in the upper right corner of the verso of this note, apparently the “2nd part” to which Duchamp refers above.)

[recto] Difficult to:/describe a Rest in/neither technical/nor poetic terms: find the/indispensable vulgarity/so much so/that it loses its vulgar taint/1—Use vulgar words/avoid words that are metaphorical/or general (equivocal, rubber/words)./But no research for the vulgar/word which is picturesque/(the indispensable vulgarity only) 2—Idea predominant/and language/only as its/instrument (of precision)/a—the idea itself of precision/and b. transparent language

describe a Rest “capable of the/worst excentricities”

In that the picture is/incapable (despite all the well-intentioned/Idealism of man’s visual works, all the overwhelming/yearning toward he knows not what; consequences/of anthropocentrism)/of producing a cinematic state/(real or ideal), language can/explain several stages of/this rest not descriptively

[on the side] 1913

[verso] (any more than probably)./But explain a possible / of the Rest which develops.. /The Possible even submitted/to low level logic/or to the alogical consequence/of a self-indulgent will.

The Possible without the / slightest grain of ethics of esthetics/and of metaphysics—

The physical Possible? / yes but which physical / Possible. rather / hypophysics.

6. 6 There are some astounding fuses (note 250)

6 there are some astounding fuses (note 251)

Note 246 (fig. 150)

6

There are some astounding fuses.

7. 7 at each fraction of duration (note 250)

7 Time has several dimensions = the clock in profile (redo) (note 251)

Note 135

7

= in each fraction of duration (?) all/future and antecedent fractions are reproduced—

All these past and future fractions/thus coexist in a present which is/really no longer what one usually calls/the instant present, but a sort of/present of multiple extensions—

See Nietzsche’s eternal Return, neurasthenic / form of a/repetition in succession to infinity

—The Clock in profile,/with the clock full face, allowing / one to obtain an entire perspective / of duration going from the time recorded/and cut up by astronomical methods/to a state where the profile is a / section and introduces / other dimensions of duration

Review.

8. 8 compression—cones….Sieves on each cone (note 250)

8 Udders in elastic metal which pass drop by drop /the liquid which descends slowly toward the hot chamber / in order to absorb the oxygen necessary for the explosion. (note 251)

Note 133

8

7—exhaust pipe:/before the filter, pipe for the es/cape of the vehicular materials of the gas,/become useless.

8—Pump—suction and pressure/bringing the erotic liquid into/the compression charged with giving it/a creamlike molecular cohesion—

9—Compression—cones in elastic metal/(resembling udders.)/passing drop by/drop the* erotic liquid/which descends toward the hot/chamber, onto the planes of slow flow./to impregnate it with the oxygen/required for the explosion./*the dew of Eros

4th Plane Large Receiver (passing under the waterfall)/3rd plane capillary tubes/2nd plane triangul. filter/1st plane Churn/[on the side] Depth

10—Planes of flow/of special forms./Slopes

9. 9 Text external form, (note 250)

9 This juxtalinear translation that one can understand with the / eyes but not read with the eyes not / out loud (note 251)

Note 164

9

Text (external form—)/Of the different motions recorded on the picture/draw up a kind of reference table (from the / picture to the text and vice versa), reference sketch

The purpose of this text is to explain (and not/to express in the manner of a poem) i.e. it is a/juxtalinear translation of the figure (picture). This/juxtalinear translation, which must no longer have any hieroglyphic/intention (the picture, itself, is the hieroglyphic/data of the Bride stripped bare—),/this translation should not be based on words and/letters, or at least,/the alphabet used will be entirely new/i.e. without any similarity to latin/greek—german letters—it will no longer be/[phonetic], but only visual/one will be able to understand it with the eyes but/one will not be able to read it with the eyes or/out loud—/The principle of such an alphabet/will be an ideal stenography—The symbols as/numerous as possible and will be the/elements/(as in every alphabet) of the groups (analogous/to words) destined to translate the progressive/distortion of the conventional hieroglyphic phenomenon/(Chocolate grinder etc.) into its nominalization which then only expresses/a single [dead] idea.

10. 10 on the slopes of flow apprentice in the sun (note 250)

Entry for 10 omitted from note 251.

Note 128

on the slopes / of flow: put like / a comment/illustrating/the photo of / having the apprentice / in the sun.

11. 11 stripped bare in piano form (note 250)

11 Stripped bare in piano form—the 3 crashes—striking of/bad coins”—Childhood memories of the/illuminating gas—Emanating sphere. (note 251)

Note 153 (see fig. 148 for page 2)

11

[page 1] (Horizontal scissors)—Pliers—/horizontal column—/ Sort of horizontal scissors, working like/balance pans/by means of the/little upper wheels of the carriage. These/little wheels, in their alternating movement raise/or lower the horizontal column according to/their contact with the precision brush./ Study the form of this friction brush, its influence/on the arrangement of the desire centers/in the dynamo.

Displacement of the scissors/Opening and displacement from/top to bottom.. Determine the curve/of the double displacement—

stripped bare in piano form/the 3 crashes./Central section of the stripping bare:/Labyrinthe.

In the poem: the stripping-bare is not/an extreme of the picture, but the celibate/means of reaching the celibate/stripped-bare blossoming.

At the top of the stripping-bare: little marble-shooting cannons (or small wagons.)

[page 2] [sketch] in A and B tension points (opening of the scissors/as far as A'B'.). The mobile O is retained by F / and G. The hooks C and D let go.—3 solutions.

1. the mobile O releases C and D at the same time/and falls along X—determining/by its fall a crash to show/2. The mobile releases only C and the/tension ceasing in A', it is drawn along/following the trajectory R (other crash)/3. the mobile releases D. and falls along/the trajectory S. (other crash) after the 3 falls, the mobile is brought back/to its labyrinth position/by: a little cord in the/center which is accustomed to the labyrinth position /(rolled up like a snail) (sort of spring)/which lets the mobile go after the drawing apart/of the scissors and brings it back to its labyrinth/position (little cord with an inclination of inertia)

Free will = ass of Buridan. find a/formula—

[on the side] use the fall of the mobile from the “striking of bad coins” point of view.

[page 3] Clockwork System/Spring and gears—/on impact of the combat marble, release/of the clockwork system which removes its/point of support from the juggler’s feet— / Boxing match— / (see the cross-section of the clock-work system/combined with the breast-cylinder. (Recopy/here) /

Introduce a useless gear/worn on one side.

Explosion of the liquid gas on contact with/the sponge—/This explosion “sets off” the cannons/of the boxing match and the combat/marble carries away, in addition to its force of projection,/a property of ascensional/magnetization: From which on its contact/with the rams, double phenomenon / 1. phenomenon of descent of the rams/by impact of the marble taking away their/point of support, / 2. instantaneous ascensional mag/netization of these rams (out of metal suitable/for receiving this magnetization) making them/slowly (but surely) rise back up/to their initial position (vertical/position of flattened hinge)/This ascensional magnetization (normal (?) i.e./vertical.) = childhood memories of the illuminating gas/last wish of the illuminating gas transmitted

[page 4] to the rams which, after the descent, rise back up/by this ascensional magnetization (which/lasts only a moment). Develop well = the change from: this physical ascensional force of the gas. to an ascensional magnetization/acting on the metal of the rams, magnetization directed/toward a center of distraction anti-gravity / principle.

Breast-cylinders—/see special cross section drawing/of the cylinder and the clock work system/combined.

Desire dynamo../combustion chamber. Hot/chamber [bath heater]. This explosion produced by/the alternate presentation of the “desire/centers” (these desire centers belong/to the horizontal column of the bachelor/machine.

Effects of the explosion on the stripping-bare: /—but on the sources of this stripping-/bare in the desire dynamo = these numerous/sources and leading toward numerous/starting-ups, (mechanical this time)/of the stripping-bare —to enumerate—

For the life center of the bride end up at/a little mathematically spherical /empty emanating ball—(emanating sphere)/always to contrast the married divinity / to the celibate human—

12. 12 Desire centers 3 in number—containing… (note 250)

12 the Desire-centers contain a material analogous/to platinum sponge: slow to light (note 251)

Note 163 (fig. 149)

12

[sketch] 1 intention/2 fear/3 desire

Desire centers, 3 in number./Contain a material/analogous to platinum /sponge = slow to light.

13. 13 The crane stationary transport (note 250); crossed out in note 250. Entry for 13 omitted from note 251. Phrase recurs in note 104 (see no.22/23 below).

Note 100

The Crane: Stationary transport/Mobile go-between

14/15. 14 The “hanged” with all the access. /15 The weathervane could come and horse-kick (note 250)

14 The “hanged” suspended with all the accessories must / 15 swing at the will of a ventilation and increase in volume while cooling— (note 251)

Note 144 (fig. 128)

14/15

The “hanged”—suspended/with all the accessories/must swing/at the pleasure of a ventilation (?)

The eyes or upper part of the “hanged”/have a general shape recalling that/of the chocolate grinder (head)*

[on the side]* extract/a sort of principal form/on which/the entire picture/rests

[diagram] The Hatching indicates/the way of ending the upper part of the bride in mossy metal (like/in the 1st study of Munich)

Weathervane = The pt. A in the trajectory after/impact of the sex wasp at B. could/come and horse kick/a circle of cardinal points./This circle in changing/chameleon metal (reforming itself at one)/according to/the orientation.—/Through the contact of the shoe/with the circle of the horse’s kick will bring about/a metallic particle fusion which. becoming liquid/would increase in volume while cooling

16. 16 The die of eros (note 250)

16 the celibate squeezing together, of the uniforms and liveries starting from the plane of sex. (to redo) (note 251)

Note 123 (A circled 16 appears on the verso of this note.)

[recto] Die of eros. (malic molds)/arrival of the gas—in the die of eros:/Distribution of the gas in the different malic molds.

A. The moldings of gas in malic forms, thus/obtained, like the refrain of this/bachelor machine (Buffer/plow of life, sexual block),/have no/addressee. They long for one regretfully and try/to respond to all questions of love by/their fineries of brutality. These moldings are/as if enveloped, the length/of their negative request, by a mirror which/sends back to them their own complexity to/the point of hallucinating them fairly onanistically./P.T.O.

[verso] A'—/The die of eros is a selection of uniforms and liveries/which, by the dimensions of their cut, determine as many/malic molds. Each of these molds develops /according to the model of cut of its corresponding uniform or livery,/starting from a common point (or from a common horizontal/plane), the point of sex, or plane of sex.—/“The bachelor oath”/? Meeting of the uniforms and liveries / ? Quadrille… / ? Bouquet… / ? Round… / ? Farandole… / ? Ball… / ? Choir / Wardrobe /= / Look of a cemetery\ = /Uniforms of/Gendarme/Cuirassier/Officer of law/Priest/Station Master /Liveries of/Bus boy/Dept store delivery boy/Flunkey/Undertaker.

17. 17 Tympanum absorbing the dew (note 250)

17 Tympanum absorbing the dew that the wasp spits (note 251)

Note 146

17

[folio] tympanum absorbing the dew / which the wasp spits out and/serving the “hanged” / as a wing which the ventilation rushes into.

(nutrition of the filament/material)

18. 18 The juggler of the center of gravity (note 250)

18 Each step to go down is for him a/step into a bathtub of pride (note 251)

Note 150

18

[recto] vertical stripping-bare by her bachelors

The juggler of the center of gravity physical/comparison: /on the bride’s clothing/the juggler of the c. of gravity dances i.e. he/is surrounded by several: “caution/there is a step to go down.”—These/steps to go down are/immediate because/each descent of the ram is/a step to go down. =/for him each step to go down/is a step into a bathtub of pride./The upper ball is not/humility/against the steps of pride. The/upper ball doesn’t give a damn. It/is the instrument of indifference

[verso] or the balance arm which desires the 0./ (because humility would only be a/pride of a - sign). — /Without/this upper ball—the juggler/stretches out, descends toward.....;/he falls into/the equations of durations and spaces./The balance arm or upper ball allows/him every fantasy up to/top dead center, an instant of/tranquility for seeing outside. But after the unstable equilibrium, the juggler/returns to the 0: The/Bride watches him out of the corner of her eye

19. 19 the perfect meeting(?) (note 250)

19 Redo (note 251)

Note 156

19

[recto] Physical notion of curvature:/Without considering regular/geometric curves, what/intuitive physical notion can one/have about a curve whose / ends meet without crossing each other at the/meeting point, i.e. The perfect connection, /when it is not a matter/of geometric curves, is to be studied—

[diagram] connection

[diagram] 2 straight lines/which cross each other.

[diagram] 2 curves which cross/each other less and less/pto

[verso] do they ever connect perfectly?/(like the 2 straight lines) or the geometric/curves).

20. 20 anaccentuation—end of the page and on the back/gap music (note 250)

20 A and B are certainly the only kinds of indifference which as such, / are the fodder of the magnets, the subject of discord/between all these foreign forces/20 also: gap music (note 251)

Note 181

20

[recto] Porte Maillot, 1913/Leave out/Uniformity of rhythm, anaccentuation./Chance/Race between 2 mobile objects A and B./at each cut of time (i.e. the uniform interval between/2 “measures”). A and B. are drawn spatially, i.e. A is/decorated with all the accidents of the road, B also/is shown in a different state:/there is not in this race, any rivalry between A. from B./A follows its own way, B likewise, each one meeting/other roads Conventionally, one takes a minimum time period/which separates two successive spatial states of A and B. (1", ½", or/less/no importance)/To differentiate A and B, A for ex. could be the piano. B,/the violin, (no importance) The different notations of the non-A/[on the side] or non-B/could be pictured by:/magnets + or - of A.—In other words: at each moment/of the duration A will be drawn or repelled/by foreign elements (which/will be the notes accompanying the nucleus A at that moment of the duration)/A and B are certainly/the only kinds of indifference, which as such, are/the fodder of the magnets, the subject of discord between all these foreign/forces [diagram] Jagged line, continuum of magnetization or repulsion points of A/straight line, attraction mean of the mobile object A/Jagged line as above/Fall of A into Y

[verso] Gap music: from a (chord) group of 32 notes for ex./on the piano/not emotion either, but enumeration through the cold thought of the other 53 missing notes. put/some explanations

21. 21 what bears on the little wheels is— (note 250)

21—Redo (note 251)

Note 94

21

[crossed out] For/the woods:/Sienna earth/burnt straw/Terre de Cassel/ivory bl./Lake and/blue

[sketch]/Whatever bears on/little wheels, is less/heavy.—(for the slider/at the top. (the/scissors which bear/on the little wheels of/the slider.)

[crossed out] for the/soft readymade,/use: “Ordinary/Brick, “/in the inscription

[crossed out] Money box (or canned goods)/Make a readymade/with a box/enclosing something/and soldered shut/forever/or a long time the imitation of photography

22/23 22 extra-mural agricultural apparatus (note 250)

23 the groups or the families (?) (note 250)

22—perspective and gravity (redo) (note 251)

Note 104

22

the groups or the families. (name brand bottles, uniforms and liveries etc.) their role in the picture—/ note the astringent action in the bride./gordian knot (for the fall of weight.)/black metal of the ball. /the word Parcel (to use)/the word flask/the word bar/instead of axle—/the word apparatus instead of machine / also the word slanting, oblique/also the word “domain” in the figurative/sense of limited quantity of plane space /Look for another word than material, metal, substance, for/the text, (use organic mat. for certain wasp/parts.)/the word body for ex. (or material body(?))/The crane—stationary transport—or mobile go-between/Look for (in the Style) some “prime words” (divisible only by themselves and by unity)

Title Definitive title:/The bride stripped bare by her bachelors even/to give the picture the aspect of continuity/and to not lay oneself open to the objection of having only/described a fight between social dolls. = The bride/possesses her partner and the bachelors strip bare their bride. / As subtitle: (agricultural machine) or “extramural agricultural /apparatus”

Principle of gravity, putting the picture under the control of/elastic bands extending from the center of the earth: /each [material] is of such density and form that the object /which makes up its limits is induced by the center of gravity to/extend its dimensions into a surface without thickness and even/to reduce this surface down to the point which attracts it (funnel)/(Only the wasp uses the elevator of gravity at will)/The principle of gravity on which the entire picture rests is/the only Bridge of Common-Sense, the only human control over/each one of the picture’s parts; this principle of gravity/is expressed graphically through the/linear means used:/ordinary perspective. (available to all levels of intelligence)

The picture in general is only a series of variations on “the law of gravity”/a sort of enlargement, or relaxation of this law, submitting to it/[glimpses of the effects of the law on] extraphysical situations or bodies less or not chemically conditioned

[on the side] In the “hanged” (female) the upp. part is turned 22° ½ towards the handler: in the text recall ironically the greek heads ¾ turned./imitated by Coysevox

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