Questions

1. In the text, Frank Reijnders states that Duchamp was one of the few for realizing that "he had to separate science from science and, similarly, painting from painting, in order to bring both back into play." What did he mean by this? What are some of the difficulties presented when mixing art with science?

Science and art are seemingly two very different disciplines that, if not prompted to do so, would never intersect. Most people think of science as something concrete; consisting of fundamental facts, set definitions, basic logic, and it tends to be governed by an orderly method comprised of established rules of how one must doing things. Art, on the other hand, poses a reputation that seems almost the complete opposite--art has no rules (or so they say). Many believe art is full of freedom, creativity and innovation. That being so about the both of them, it is obvious that the two mixed together would be like oil and water. Critics would state their complaints against artists who have used perspective techniques in the past stating that the pieces were too scientific and lacked creativity because all they did was follow formulas. When artists attempted to incorporate scientific methods into their art, most of them failed because they got too caught up with the colors, brush strokes, and so forth. However, artists like Duchamp figured out ways to accomplish the impossible. With his Large Glass, Duchamp successfully uses the science of optics to create a wonderful work of art.

2. Is the final product after painting a photograph still considered a photograph or a painting?

Gerhard Richter was famous for this photo-paintings in which he would project a photograph onto a canvas, trace the picture then paint a replica of the original copy. In a way, this duplicate of his sits on the fence of being a photograph or a picture. Yes, the artist uses a canvas, paints and a paintbrush to create the entire product--items fundamentally understood to be the makings of a painting--however, the image he creates is quite real, literally a snapshot of the real world. This is very difficult for me to classify the work being that it is so much like a painting as well as a photograph.