Description: Perhaps no twentieth-century artist utilized puns and linguistic ambiguity with greater effect -- and greater controversy -- than Marcel Duchamp. In addition to offering insightful analyses of his major works, Dalia Judovitz examines how he interpreted notions of mechanical reproduction in order to redefine the meaning and value of the art object, the artist, and artistic production. She demonstrates how Duchamp's redefinition of artistic modes of production through reproduction opened up modernism to more speculative explorations while clearing the ground for the aesthetic of appropriation that was central to postmodernism. Through this careful "unpacking" of his major works, Dalia Judovitz finds that Duchamp may well have the last laugh.

"A highly readable and interesting retake on the meaning(s) of Duchamp's work. Judovitz ... concentrat(es) on the artist's punning wit as he calls into question the very foundations of art. A worthy contribution to the ever-growing analysis of this enigmatic innovator". -- Art Times

"The enigmatic Marcel Duchamp continues to challenge all who probe his secrets. Judovitz's daunting venture, to 'unpack' their protean implications, is ... intricate and subtle". -- F.A. Trapp, Choice

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