I’ve noticed that in several of my art history books theres mention of inside jokes in Marcel Duchamp’s work, but fail to mention what they are (suggesting that they are either dirty or too obscure to decipher).
One of them, “Fountain”, is a urinal signed with the name “R. Mutt”. One of my books suggests that the name “R. Mutt” might be the inside joke.
The other is a postcard of the Mona Lisa defaced with a moustache and bearing the legend L.H.O.O.Q. It is mentioned that “L.H.O.O.Q.” is a play on words, but not fluent in French it’s lost on me.
MD’s works almost entirely consist of inside jokes. From “Apollinaire Enameled” to the Large Glass itself, it is all one big inside joke. This is way too vast a subject to get into, many PhD theses have spawned from just this question alone. Believe me, I know, my art school houses one of the two top Dada studies depts in the world, I have heard almost every theory and every scribbled thought on the subject.
Armut is the german word for poverty. . .
Or how about his “Why not sneeze, Rose Selavy” (e’ros se la vie, get it?) where in a little crate it looks like he has suspended a bunch of little sugar cubes which are actually marble and very heavy.