is essay features a brief discussion of the commodity critique in the readymades, a survey of the uses of Rrose Selavy, and analysis of the commodification of Rrose, of women, and of art that are inherent in her construction.
Duchamp's readymades were "an initially idly conceived concept" that turned into a very significant part of his production which he called "the most important single idea to come out of my work" (quoted in Ades, Cox & Hopkins 152). The notion originated with the fanciful attachment of an inverted bicycle wheel to a stool and the purchase of a Bottle Dryer (1914) that had the look to him of a "sculpture already made" (quoted in Ades et al. 146). The word was introduced in this connection in a letter to his sister Suzanne in which he requested that she paint an inscription on the bottlerack and sign it [after] Marcel Duchamp." The notion developed with the first American readymade, In Advance of the Broken Arm (1915), created through the purchase, inscribing, and signing ([from] Marcel Duchamp) of a snow shovel. This form of signature meant that the observer was to understand "that this item had come from him, rather than having been made by him," thereby shifting the emphasis from the artist's production to the artist's standing (Naumann 39). While he expanded the class of readymades to include 'assisted, rectified, and even semi-readymades (in which parts were custom made for or by Duchamp), they nonetheless had in common materials that were recognizable and mass-produced. Duchamp also extended the readymade notion "to include even words, oral and written communication," and their existence as recognizable 'things' in common circulation made them eminently qualified for inclusion--even though they also added layers of meaning to the concept (Naumann 41). As Duchamp said in his only extended explanation of the readymades, the sentences he inscribed on them "instead of describing the object like a title [w...