This disintegration provided rich compost from which Surrealism, Dadaism and a host of revolutionary genres flourished, many of which continue to define contemporary art today. It may have also provided material for Duchamp’s peculiar genius at unsettling traditional views of art. Molderings writes “For Duchamp, life devoid of a scientific, positivist “truth” was… tolerable only if it could be understood as a game.” Thus one basis for the notable Duchampian sense of aesthetic humor and irony may have been an acknowledgment of living in an era dominated by discrepancies and the toppling of tropes. Old notions of the point and power of art had fallen out of service. “Style, beauty, expression, taste — no such criteria could be applied to the 3 Standard Stoppages,” writes the author. Indeed, this is a work that consists of dropped threads. While Cubism was allied to scientism in cause and effect, Duchamp’s work was not so much influenced by theories advanced by science, philosophy and mathematics as it was an experiment which was also a work of art.

The author both mimes and mines his subject’s consuming theoretical interests by giving free play to his own consuming interest in every aspect of the making of 3 Standard Stoppages.

Duchamp was either complicit or lucky, and either a prescient genius or brilliant prankster, according to which art critic one reads. Molderings begins by examining the discrepancy between Duchamp’s initial description of 3 Standard Stoppages and small elements, or seemingly small elements, which found their way into the final piece. These include such subtle changes as the addition of a painted blue background and the idea of affixing the fallen threads. Perhaps there is something about the nature of enigmatic genius that begs for minute examination, as Molderings makes an excellent case for his close reading of the work. He carefully traces aspects of the work within Duchamp’s œuvre and life, as well as points of contact with other, often academic, disciplines. For example, an artist as well-known for his interest in language as Duchamp seems entitled to an analysis of the work’s relationship to sewing and embroidery. Molderings teaches us that le stoppage is a French term for what in English is called “invisible reweaving” but also retains the sense of stopping, as the threads are stopped from moving and indeed from their function as threads.

The author both mimes and mines his subject’s consuming theoretical interests by giving free play to his own consuming interest in every aspect of the making of 3 Standard Stoppages. He finds correspondence in this piece not only with Large Glass but also less known works such Tu m’. He makes lengthy, informed comparisons between the objects created by Duchamp and contemporaneous scientific theories including those of the mathematician Henri Poincaré. There is some evidence that post-1913 and 3 Standard Stoppages ideas of chance became a hallmark of Duchamp’s produced work. Therefore, when Poincaré says “No, scientific laws are not artificial creations; we have no reason to regard them as accidental,” we are given new insight into Duchamp’s interest, and iconographic use of various kinds of games. There is terrific pleasure to be found when Molderings reveals such fascinating cultural concurrence as Duchamp’s use of a meter of thread in relation to the meter as artifact of the French Revolution, “a Republican unit of length that would be the same for all.” What could be more Surrealist than that?

Not everything is equally compelling, of course. Some digressions may say more about the interests and readings of Molderings than those of the artist he is describing. A final chapter which calls the 3 Standard Stoppages a “symbol of Duchamp’s’ radical individualism” seems too broad to be altogether useful. But these are minor difficulties. Those who admire the work and life of Duchamp will find much to enjoy here. It is a great opportunity to follow Molderings, a strong writer and able analyst, into the brilliant labyrinth of the mind and work of Duchamp, a true original who also originated the ready-made, holding onto the thread of an idea as we navigate the maze of Surrealism’s history and discover new ways to view one of the world’s most enthralling artists.