The sculpture Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp is playfully irreverent and deceptively simple. It’s just a rim and a stool. But the concepts behind it are lot more complicated. In the century since it was created, it has become significantly influential in the world of contemporary art. In this episode of Why’d They Put That In A Museum, Sarah Lees and Beth Bacon take the 'Bicycle Wheel' sculpture for a spin. They explain why Duchamp created ready-mades and talk about his part on the Dada movement. They discuss Duchamp’s relationships with artists from Pablo Picasso to Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and others. To Duchamp, ideas were what makes art, art. And then one day, he stopped creating art altogether and became a chess master. What an idea!
© 2025 Why'd They Put That In A Museum podcast hosts Beth Bacon and Sarah Lees.
