On Rai5 tonight airing a documentary on Marcel Duchamp

It is Marcel Duchamp who is the protagonist of the episode of Art Night this evening, Friday, June 10 at 9:15 p.m., on Rai 5. In fact, Marcel Duchamp: The Art of the Possible, a documentary that explores the life, philosophy and impact of one of the most influential modernists of the early 20th century, will be broadcast. The film breaks down Duchamp’s ideas and applies them to both the historical events and the modernist explosion that blanketed the early 20th century and shows how Duchamp’s ideas changed public consciousness and our understanding of aesthetics, art, and culture, highlighting the singular impact of Duchamp’s philosophy on art and, most importantly, examining how Duchamp’s revolutionary ideas of the early 20th century have shaped the 21st century and the present day.

From the story of Duchamp’s childhood, his foray into art, and his first painting, Nude Descending The Staircase No. 2, which was rejected by the Cubist painters at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants in 1912, the film takes the audience back to the time in early 20th century Paris when scientific discoveries were merging with the arts to set the tone for the rest of the century. That rejection set Duchamp on a path that would forever change the very foundations of art: the production of the Readymades. Not only were the Readymades revolutionary for their time, but for the first time in history they addressed the question “What is art?” The film then focuses next on the 1963 Duchamp retrospective at the Pasadena Museum of Art. It was this exhibition that launched Duchamp onto the contemporary art scene, where his work was introduced to a new generation of emerging artists. Duchamp’s ideas profoundly influenced the Fluxus art movement and artists of the time including Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Bell, Ed Ruscha, Carolee Schneemann, and Jasper Johns, and opened up a new world of possibilities for others to follow.

Another way to reflect on “What is art?” is given to us by Gillo Dorfles narrated in the documentary Being in Time, introduced by art historian Vincenzo Trione’s commentary. The documentary was made by Fulvio Caldarelli in 2017, with RAI archival materials and through the testimonies of numerous experts. As he himself explains at the beginning of the film, Gillo Dorfles was influenced by the theories of David Hume. “Beauty is not in the thing itself, but in the satisfaction it provokes in the user”; this is how Dorfles relates the Scottish empiricist philosopher’s thought. He adds, “Art must please. And the pleasure of art has led me to study what is or is not art.” Along the lines of this premise, footage is shown of the art critic (whose birth anniversary was last April 12) at various stages of his professional life. Period footage alternates with testimonials: from art historians Achille Bonito Oliva and Francesca Pirani to architect Mario Botta and literary critic Andrea Cortellessa.

Art Night, hosted by Neri Marcorè, is a program by Silvia De Felice and Emanuela Avallone, Massimo Favia, Alessandro Rossi, with direction by Andrea Montemaggiori.

On Rai5 tonight airing a documentary on Marcel Duchamp

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