Marcel Duchamp

On April 9th, 1917, a urinal was delivered as an art work to the First Annual Exhibition of the Independents in New York. The item received the title Fountain. It was signed R. Mutt, which turned out to be a pseudonym. About twenty years later, the authorship of this work was attributed to Marcel Duchamp. But over time, his authorship got questioned; the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven was cited as possible author. Essentially binary discussions followed, to which this book opposes a systematic approach in seven theses. Far from claiming to provide answers, it gathers elements that could potentially lead to a broader research plan. Le 9 avril 1917, un urinoir fut livre en tant qu'oeuvre d'art a la Premiere Exposition Annuelle des Independants a New York. L'envoi recut le titre Fontaine. Il portait la signature R. Mutt qui s'averait etre un pseudonyme. Une vingtaine d'annees plus tard, la paternite de cette oeuvre fut attribuee a Marcel Duchamp. Mais au fil du temps, sa qualite d'auteur fut mise en doute; la baronne Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven fut citee comme possible auteure. Des discussions essentiellement binaires suivirent auxquelles ce livre oppose une approche systematique en sept theses. Loin de pretendre donner des reponses, il rassemble des elements qui pourraient conduire a un plan de recherche plus etendu.