![A Midnight Bit on the History of the Book-as-Tactile-Experience:
Up late as ever, working on a series of interview questions about electronic book publishing and thinking about the tactile differences between various publications, from artists’ book to the iPad. A conceptual predecessor to e-book controversy-to-come, Marcel Duchamp’s Please touch (Prière de toucher) was designed for the cover of Le Surréalisme in 1947, the catalogue that accompanied the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, an exhibition organized by Duchamp and André Breton at the Maeght Gallery in Paris. As legend (and also, the National Gallery of Australia’s website) has it:
“Duchamp collaborated with Italian-born painter Enrico Donati on the design and production of the catalogue cover. Donati, based in New York City at the time, purchased 999 pre-fabricated foam and rubber breasts, otherwise known as ‘falsies’, from a warehouse in Brooklyn. Once in Paris, he and Duchamp undertook the protracted task of hand painting each readymade to more naturally resemble the female anatomy. Discussing the creative process, Donati recalled a conversation between himself and Duchamp: ’I remarked that I had never thought I would get tired of handling so many breasts, and Marcel said, ‘Maybe that’s the whole idea’. Maria Martins, with whom Duchamp was having an intimate affair, is said to have modeled for the work. The completed breasts were adhered to a circular piece of black velvet and affixed to the cardboard slip-cover of the catalogue.”
See also: Please Touch: Dada and Surrealist Objects After the Readymade by Janine Mileaf. [Dartmouth College Press/ Google Books]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkynzqIipN1qz9e79o1_1280.jpg "A Midnight Bit on the History of the Book-as-Tactile-Experience:
Up late as ever, working on a series of interview questions about electronic book publishing and thinking about the tactile differences between various publications, from artists’ book to the iPad. A conceptual predecessor to e-book controversy-to-come, Marcel Duchamp’s Please touch (Prière de toucher) was designed for the cover of Le Surréalisme in 1947, the catalogue that accompanied the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, an exhibition organized by Duchamp and André Breton at the Maeght Gallery in Paris. As legend (and also, the National Gallery of Australia’s website) has it:
“Duchamp collaborated with Italian-born painter Enrico Donati on the design and production of the catalogue cover. Donati, based in New York City at the time, purchased 999 pre-fabricated foam and rubber breasts, otherwise known as ‘falsies’, from a warehouse in Brooklyn. Once in Paris, he and Duchamp undertook the protracted task of hand painting each readymade to more naturally resemble the female anatomy. Discussing the creative process, Donati recalled a conversation between himself and Duchamp: ’I remarked that I had never thought I would get tired of handling so many breasts, and Marcel said, ‘Maybe that’s the whole idea’. Maria Martins, with whom Duchamp was having an intimate affair, is said to have modeled for the work. The completed breasts were adhered to a circular piece of black velvet and affixed to the cardboard slip-cover of the catalogue.”
See also: Please Touch: Dada and Surrealist Objects After the Readymade by Janine Mileaf. [Dartmouth College Press/ Google Books]")
A Midnight Bit on the History of the Book-as-Tactile-Experience:
Up late as ever, working on a series of interview questions about electronic book publishing and thinking about the tactile differences between various publications, from artists’ book to the iPad. A conceptual predecessor to e-book controversy-to-come, Marcel Duchamp’s Please touch (Prière de toucher) was designed for the cover of Le Surréalisme in 1947, the catalogue that accompanied the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, an exhibition organized by Duchamp and André Breton at the Maeght Gallery in Paris. As legend (and also, the National Gallery of Australia’s website) has it:
“Duchamp collaborated with Italian-born painter Enrico Donati on the design and production of the catalogue cover. Donati, based in New York City at the time, purchased 999 pre-fabricated foam and rubber breasts, otherwise known as ‘falsies’, from a warehouse in Brooklyn. Once in Paris, he and Duchamp undertook the protracted task of hand painting each readymade to more naturally resemble the female anatomy. Discussing the creative process, Donati recalled a conversation between himself and Duchamp: ’I remarked that I had never thought I would get tired of handling so many breasts, and Marcel said, ‘Maybe that’s the whole idea’. Maria Martins, with whom Duchamp was having an intimate affair, is said to have modeled for the work. The completed breasts were adhered to a circular piece of black velvet and affixed to the cardboard slip-cover of the catalogue.”
See also: Please Touch: Dada and Surrealist Objects After the Readymade by Janine Mileaf. [Dartmouth College Press/ Google Books]
