Analysis of Duchamp and Zen Aesthetics

As one of the artists who had great influence on the art history of modernism in the 20th century, Duchamp always realizes his personal artistic value through his constant pursuit of self and self-transcendence. He integrates art with his own life, infuses his own thoughts in every piece of work and realizes his own independent will and spirit of freedom. Both the works and the state of creation and life conform to the concepts of "true self", "sameness" and others pursued by Zen Buddhism. This article is divided into four parts to discuss the relationship and commonalities between the two. Part one is a brief account of Duchamp’s life and the evolution of his works. The second part briefly describes the basic content and connotation of Zen and put forward the relationship with art. The third part puts forward its commonalities with Duchamp and discussed respectively from Duchamp's works, as well as the state of creation and life in connection with the basic connotation of Zen Buddhism in the second chapter. The forth part summarizes the creation and life style of Duchamp according to the present artistic condition and puts forward the importance of identity of independence, art and life in conclusion. A Brief Account of Duchamp 's Life and Works In 1917, an urinal named "Spring" appeared anonymously in the exhibitions of independent artists in the United States and became one of the landmark works in the history of modern art. It is a well-known fact that it was at that time that the author of this work, which is not unfamiliar to the history of art, solemnly proclaimed to the world his complete rebellion against traditional arts. As a pioneer of experimental art in the twentieth century, Marcel Duchamp had an important influence on Western art around World War II. The artist who took a pivotal position in the history of modern art was born in France in 1887 and he is one of the representatives and founders of Dadaism and Surrealism. Almost never stopped in a fixed pattern and style in his art creation process and never clinging to a popular genre or group, even though he was referred to as Dadaism. However, in Duchamp's eyes, Dadaism was only one movement, like all other modern schools that demonstrate anti-Semitism, and Dadaism continued to circulate from destruction to defending and re-destruction. Obviously, it is a keen and rebellious nature and a firm pursuit of independence and will create such a man of his own. Most of Duchamp's early works were in the form of frame painting. At that time, Europe was in the period of economic prosperity. In the era when the old art system was unable to meet the artist's free will, Duchamp accepted various genres such as Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and Futurism. Around 1912, his works were frequently exhibited in the Cubist exhibition and the famous "Nude Downstairs" was born during that period. It was only when the painting was dismissed on the so-called "style" controversy at the 1913 Salon that he realized that the art groups that flaunts a "doctrine" and "spirit" were a limitation for him. It was also from that time that Duchamp's creative approach gradually shifted from frame painting to ready-made creation. The bold challenge to traditional aesthetics is fully reflected in Duchamp's ready-made works of art. He draws creative inspiration from various industrial products and daily necessities produced by human society, simplifies the processing of the objects and gives them personal feelings, which makes the objects have a new meaning different from the original ones. In 1913, he did the "Termination of Three Standards", which showed a mockery of scientific metrics. In the same year, he also made a sculpture with a bicycle wheel fixed on the stool, which is the beginning of the ready-made products. In 1914, the concept of "Big Glass" began to be conceived. In the following years, the famous "Spring", "Unfortunate Ready-made Products" and "Paintings of Bearded Mona 8th International Conference on Social Network, Communication and Education (SNCE 2018)