Chess (2008)

In 1918 Duchamp left his work on the Large Glass and the art scene, and went to Buenos Aires, Argentina for nine months where he often played chess, and carved from wood the only chess set he himself made, though a local craftsman made the knights. He returned to Paris in 1919, where he lived until he returned to the United States in 1920. By the time he moved to Paris in 1923 he was no longer a practicing artist. Instead he played and studied chess, which he played for the rest of his life to the near exclusion of all other activity.


Duchamp At His Chessboard

When I was young
I thought
(Very enthusiastically)
That music was all a matter of skill.

As I've grown older
And acquired a modicum of skill
I have come to appreciate enthusiasm much more.

Perhaps when I die
I shall be silent and wise.
That is all.

I hope someday before I die
To become silent and wise.
Like Marcel Duchamp at his board.

First: Art is in your fingers, expressed through your brush.
Later: Art is where you find it, expressed through your eye.
Finally: Art is what you are, your life is the why.

I hope someday before I die
To become silent and wise.
Like Marcel Duchamp at his board.

On his deathbed, Voltaire spat in the face
Of the priest sent to administer rites.
"The man is the work, and reason the light
Begone to your dismal abode".

Hiding behind the Platonic reflections
Marks a cowardly and incurious mind.
Get out of the cave, come into the light
Stand like a man, don't kneel like a slave.

What is, is, and what is not
Simply has never been.
Love one another, do your part
Try to leave the world a better place
Than it was
Whenever you came.

Before I die I'd be silent and wise
Like Marcel Duchamp at his board.