One of the things I’ll be attempting to do this year is to extend the number of the voices included here beyond simply my own. When I got the following note from artist and writer Angie Keefer in response to my previous post about Duchamp’s “Bottle Rack,” I asked if I could share it here in its entirety. I was grateful for Angie’s agreement. — RG
Angie Keefer writes:
During freshman and sophomore years I did my work-study at the Yale Art Gallery, in Operations. I helped to install the shows, change the lightbulbs (a full-time job in itself, as there are thousands of incandescent bulbs in that incredible ceiling, at least a few of which fizzle out on any given day), and prepare artworks for loan. The first big shipping project I handled on my own was the packing of the 1945 snow shovel [known as “In Advance of the Broken Arm”], part of Yale’s collection. I spent a week’s worth of work-study time outfitting a very expensive crate with layers of foam specially formed to secure the shovel during transit. When the time came to populate the little coffin, I was required to wear latex gloves, lest the oils from my fingers mar the precious specimen. Though I considered myself well-paid at the time, the joke seemed to be on me, all the same. I remember thinking then that my absurd performance, and all the similar performances that have no doubt accompanied In Advance of the Broken Arm over the past many years, add a layer to the narrative of the readymade that is often, if not always, overlooked. The rituals attending and attesting to the rarity of the object don’t fall off at the threshold of the gallery space. It’s a serious business, maintaining select snow shovels and bottle racks in the style to which Duchamp’s blessings have made them accustomed. To keep the faith, significant money and effort is expended on an ongoing basis, behind the scene. Rather, there is no behind the scene—circulation is as much the work, as is the object. That’s the point of the readymade, I think. Said point is only half expressed by the emphasis usually placed on re-contextualization and the role of artists/institutions/critical texts in endowing an object with cultural and economic value.
