In August 1946, Marcel Duchamp spent five weeks in Switzerland,
including five days at the Hotel Bellevue (today, Le Baron Tavernier)
near Chexbres, on Lake Geneva. During his stay he discovered the
Forestay waterfall. No research was ever done as to why the artist
chose this waterfall and not another to become the starting point for,
and ultimately the landscape of, his famous final masterpiece, "Étant
donnés: 1° la chute d'eau, 2° le gaz d'éclairage" (Given: 1. The
Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas).
A multidisciplinary event that took place in May, 2010 in Cully, on Lake
Geneva, near the Forestay waterfall, attempted to provide answers to
this and many other questions about Duchamp's work.
Special artistic contributions by Melanie Althaus, Ecke Bonk, Andreas
Glauser, Peter Roesch, Roman Signer, Tadanori Yokoo...
Stefan Banz (born in Sursee. Lives and works in Switzerland) is an artist and author. In 1989 he cofounded the Kunsthalle Luzern and served as its artistic director until 1993; since then he has been working as a freelance artist, participating in solo and group exhibitions in international galleries and museums. From July 1994 to December 1997 he was the artistic consultant and curator of Galerie Hauser & Wirth. In 2000 he received the Manor Art Prize, and the Recognition Award from the City of Lucerne. From 2004 to 2014 he collaborated artistically with Caroline Bachmann. In 2005 he was the curator for the Swiss Pavilion at the 51st Biennale in Venice. He is the artistic director of the KMD, cofounded in 2009 with Caroline Bachmann.
Edited by Stefan Banz.
Texts by Paul B. Franklin,
Dalia Judovitz,
Michael Lüthy,
Bernard Marcadé,
Herbert Molderings,
Francis M. Naumann,
Molly Nesbit,
Dominique Radrizzani,
Michael Taylor,
Philip Ursprung.
