Pulled at Four Pins

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Pulled at Four Pins

Original Version:
1915, New York
lost
unpainted tin chimney cowl
readymade
no dimensions recorded

No photos were taken of this round revolving

"ventilator" before it was lost (Adcock 73). Only a
copper plate etching and a print pulled from it in 1964
survive (Oliva 178-9). This object's normal function is
to turn in the wind to make a chimney draw better.
However, there was a confusion concerning this for
quite some time. Schwarz points out that this piece
was mistaken for a weathervane; Andre Breton
mistook it for one in 1935 (635).
This Readymade was found very close to the time In
Copper plate, 1964
Advance of the Broken Arm was. As Tomkins relates,
it was "purchased a week or so after the snow shovel"
(160). Once selected, it may very well have been hung in Duchamp's apartment with the rest
of his Readymades. Breton explains, "the ceiling of Duchamp's studio in 1915 was bristling
with objects such as coat hangers, combs, weathercocks, all accompanied by some discordant
inscription that served as a title or caption" (Schwarz 635).
Duchamp gave Pulled at Four Pins to his friend
Louise Varese, who unfortunately misplaced it years
later. All that remains are the scant notes on the piece
and a plate and print. With little to work with, today
one must turn his attention to the mysterious. The
literal English translation of the French phrase "tire a
quatre epingles," which means "Dressed to the Nines"
in French, this phrase has autobiographical overtones.
Duchamp was known to be a sharp dresser, always
looking his Sunday best whatever the occasion or day
of the week.
Other possible meanings of this title prove more
complex. First of all, in English, the phrase "Pulled at
Four Pins" means nothing at all; and this may be
exactly what Duchamp intended. It may not be meant
to make sense, just like the jumbled word phrases and
complex puns used in other Readymades. Tomkins

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Pulled at Four Pins

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Etching, 1964

explains, "This was what Duchamp liked about it - the

words, making no sense and having no relation to the
visual image, could lead the mind in unpredictable

directions" (160).
Second, Duchamp's interest in complexity was reflected in a love of mathematics and inquiry
into advanced geometric ideas concerning "n-dimensional [or four-dimensional] and
non-Euclidean geometries" (Adcock 73). As Adcock suggests, the "Four Pulls" may refer to
what the artist termed the,
"four directions of the four-dimensional continuum... He did not bother to reverse his writing
when he etched his plate and, when the print is pulled, the result is a mirror-reversed image.
This had to have been intentional [Duchamp was an accomplished artist who was versed on
the reversal inherent in printmaking]. Duchamp meant to refer to certain characteristics of
four-dimensional geometry, namely, that when an object is rotated through the fourth
dimension, it is mirror-reversed" (73).
This interpretation provides for a greater understanding of Duchamp's repeated incorporation
of mirrors and reversals in other Readymades including Apolinere Enameled, Belle Haleine,
and Waistcoat. These mirrors not only implicate the viewer, but also make him think on a
higher philosophical and mathematical level.
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28/07/2012 20:59