Elemental Parallelism: the New Geometries’ influence on Marcel Duchamp works

Abstract

In several small notes, written between 1912 and 1920 - and later gathered into À L'infinitif (1967) - we have found evidence indicating that Marcel Duchamp did a wide research work on Non-Euclidean geometry and the concept of the fourth dimension. This research, however, was not conducted by strictly geometric purposes, but as an artifice to develop new methods of thinking. Through analyzing the reflection of these mathematical concepts in Duchamp's works, we have found evidence indicating his creative process and the development of mechanisms which conceive art in favor of the intellect - and are able to enhance brain grey matter.