Rotoreliefs

Set of six double-sided discs with color graphics meant to be spun on a turntable at 40 to 60 rpm. With the help of Man Ray, Duchamp filmed early versions of the spinning discs for the short film "Anemic Cinema." Later in 1935, Marcel Duchamp produced a limited run of 500 sets of these discs intending to be sold at the Concours Lépine inventor’s fair, but with little success. Duchamp was fascinated by optical illusions and mechanical art, and the two-dimensional Rotoreliefs create an animated, dimensional illusion when spun at the correct speed. While most of Duchamp's originals were destroyed, this edition was published in a similar run of five hundred sets by notable German art book publisher Walter Konig in Cologne in 1987. 6 double-sided loose discs in original vellum sleeve. Facsimile of artist's optical discs 5 ¾" on printed cardstock discs offset in full color.