Marcel Duchamp Audiobook By Octavio Paz cover art

Marcel Duchamp

Appearance Stripped Bare

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Marcel Duchamp

By: Octavio Paz
Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia, Donald Gardener - translator
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The esteemed Nobel Prize-winning poet offers a portrait of Marcel Duchamp as a great cautionary figure in public culture, citing the philosopher's influential beliefs about spiritual freedom and the encroachment of criticism, science, and art in today's world.

©1978 Seaver Books; The Castle of Purity 1968, 1970 by Octavio Paz; translation by Donald Gardener copyright 1970 by Jonathan Cape Ltd. (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Philosophy

Editorial reviews

Marcel Duchamp was a painter and sculptor who lived from 1887 to late October, 1968. Like his peers Picasso and Matisse, Duchamp helped to explode artistic convention and modernize several art forms. He is considered a seminal influence in dadaism, conceptual art, and plastic art. Duchamp was an excellent critic and a sage philosopher who tried to alert society to the corrosive effects of artifice and censorship in fields of art and intellect. Duchamp celebrated the innate freedom of the self. In Marcel Duchamp: Appearance Stripped Bare globally esteemed poet Octavio Paz discusses the legacy of Duchamp and the continued relevance of Duchamp’s insights and warnings. Paul Michael Garcia and Donald Gardener co-narrate this erudite ode written by one great artist in honor of another.
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I thought I’d come out of this with a clearer picture of Duchamp’s thinking and the circumstances of his life that led to the making of the two nominal subjects of Paz’s essays (The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, and Étants Donnés). Not so. Though Paz takes erudition to new heights and with chauvinist asides to boot, he ultimately fails to grasp the heart of the matter in either of these two works. Grab a copy of Duchamp’s Green Box and read him in the original if you want to have a clue what Paz is going on about.

The narrator was pleasant enough to listen to, but couldn’t correctly pronounce most of the French words, foreign names, and art historical terms.

Obfuscation and Jargon

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Excellent as usual, disregard the people who expect to read a book for 12th graders! the magic of Paz is in his abstract and "poetic" style. If you have read at least some of his poems then you know what style of introspection to expect, although this is not a book of poetry is nevertheless "poetic".
The best writings are lost in quick audios (shame), perhaps this is best read in book form since Paz is most definitely not for your mass readers, which is a good thing! because it means there also aren't many out there like him.

Superb! just as expected.

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I have a bachelor's degree in fine art, so I'm very well versed in art history and Duchamp himself. I can tolerate a bit of stuffy art lingo, but this goes beyond jargon into utter nonsense. I really mean it; this book is crazytown. do not waste your money. I could not decipher even a single sentence.

insufferable

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