Copper plate, 1964

Pulled at Four Pins

Original Version:

1915, New Yorklost

unpainted tin chimney cowlreadymade

no dimensions recorded

No photos were taken of this round revolving"ventilator" before it was lost (Adcock 73). Only acopper plate etching and a print pulled from it in 1964survive (Oliva 178-9). This object's normal function isto turn in the wind to make a chimney draw better.However, there was a confusion concerning this forquite some time. Schwarz points out that this piecewas mistaken for a weathervane; Andre Bretonmistook it for one in 1935 (635).This Readymade was found very close to the time InAdvance 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 restof his Readymades. Breton explains, "the ceiling of Duchamp's studio in 1915 was bristlingwith objects such as coat hangers, combs, weathercocks, all accompanied by some discordantinscription that served as a title or caption" (Schwarz 635).

Duchamp gave Pulled at Four Pins to his friendLouise Varese, who unfortunately misplaced it yearslater. All that remains are the scant notes on the pieceand a plate and print. With little to work with, todayone must turn his attention to the mysterious. Theliteral English translation of the French phrase "tire aquatre epingles," which means "Dressed to the Nines"in French, this phrase has autobiographical overtones.Duchamp was known to be a sharp dresser, alwayslooking his Sunday best whatever the occasion or dayof the week.

Other possible meanings of this title prove morecomplex. First of all, in English, the phrase "Pulled atFour Pins" means nothing at all; and this may beexactly what Duchamp intended. It may not be meantto make sense, just like the jumbled word phrases andcomplex puns used in other Readymades. Tomkins

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Etching, 1964explains, "This was what Duchamp liked about it - thewords, making no sense and having no relation to thevisual image, could lead the mind in unpredictable

directions" (160).Second, Duchamp's interest in complexity was reflected in a love of mathematics and inquiryinto advanced geometric ideas concerning "n-dimensional [or four-dimensional] andnon-Euclidean geometries" (Adcock 73). As Adcock suggests, the "Four Pulls" may refer towhat the artist termed the,

"four directions of the four-dimensional continuum... He did not bother to reverse his writingwhen 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 onthe reversal inherent in printmaking]. Duchamp meant to refer to certain characteristics offour-dimensional geometry, namely, that when an object is rotated through the fourthdimension, it is mirror-reversed" (73).

This interpretation provides for a greater understanding of Duchamp's repeated incorporationof 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 ahigher philosophical and mathematical level.

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