Customer Reviews

Joseph Cornell / Marcel Duchamp...In Resonance

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I haven't actually bought this book yet, in hopes of receiving it for Christmas, but I spent an indordinant amount of time looking at it in a bookstore - and even went back to admire it again. I love Joseph Cornell's work, and have perused all available volumes with pictures of his artwork, and this is the most complete and beautiful. His shadow boxes are displayed one per page - page after page, which is such a treat! I'm also a Marcel DuChamp fan and think it's genius to combine their work in one book. The likenesses and juxtapositions are facinating, and make this compilation a must have.

This book is the catalogue for an exhibition on the intersection of the works of Duchamp and Cornell, specifically the "Duchamp Dossier," a peculiar collection of art and trash that Cornell kept on a shelf in his house. Since it was not discovered until after his death, one can only guess whether he considered it an art piece, though he was known for compiling such "explorations," as he called them, throughout his life. The book contains a large number of beautiful color plates of both artists' work, though many of Duchamp's major pieces are not reproduced (the Cornell plates are more comprehensive). The accompanying texts are not dense critiques but, for the most part, anecdotal narratives with the occasional interpretive aside. For such a large book, it was a fast read and very entertaining. The two artists in question are visual poets rather than painters per se, and there are many creative similarities between them despite their wholly different lifestyles and personalities. Worth buying if you are a Duchamp fanatic like myself, especially for the images.

Duchamp is undeniably intriguing. His art has covered numerous styles, forms, concepts, etc.. His hermetic, curious existence is fascinating as well, and thanks to some of the essays in this wonderful book, new perspective is shown. Joseph Cornell's art never made the same impact as Duchamp, but it really can't be argued that he is extremely talented. It's hard to give a decent review of this. I've found it to be one of the most fascinating books about art ever, which is an incredibly hard task.