Marco Bruzzone

Triple Carbs Society (The Built-in Kitchen of M. Duchamp)

The Pollock Gallery,Meadows School of the Arts, Dallas, USA

September 10 - October 22, 2016

The work takes inspiration from Pierre Cabanne´s book Dialogues with M. Duchamp. In this book Robert Motherwell recalls from Duchamp’s time in New York City: – He frequently went to a little Italian restaurant, where he invariably ordered a small plate of plain spaghetti with a pat of butter and grated parmesan cheese over it. – Given his constant attempts to merge his own life with his art, M. Duchamp might have deliberately decided to eat that food every day as a performative act and also as a ready-made. I became fascinated by how this white meal he introduced into his body every day was deconstructed and how it became part of his body, his nervous system, his ideas, and eventually, his art. How such a minimal monochromatic meal could be reconstituted as a complex and colourful set of ideas and forms and relationships.

The Triple Carbs Society (The Built-in Kitchen of M.Duchamp) is a daily re-enactment of that meal. The Built-in Kitchen of M. Duchamp is a ready made, a fully-functioning, built-in kitchen that is displayed in the gallery space without any walls hiding and supporting its back. Instead a simple grid lets the viewer see it from every corner, almost like a 3-D model people are confronted with when buying a kitchen online. The built-in kitchen is the center of family life, the hope of a custom-made space where life begins during every meal. Watching this sculpture the viewer has the possibility to dissect this space and see it out of its normal context for what it truly is. The exhibition is open only during lunch time and offers the students, employees of the SMU, and any other interested people the possibility to have a free plate of plane spaghetti with butter and cheese. The students of the SMU were in charge of preparing this meal. When the pasta was ready, a noodle was thrown against a wall (getting stuck to it) to test its readiness. It is an action inspired by Eivind Nesterud iconic drawing from 2004 – A spaghetti thrown at a wall, and then sticking to it – . I'm  fascinated by the way noodles stick to a wall. At  first glimpse they might remind the viewer of a doodle, but the tension and elasticity of the gluten and the different way the parts of the same piece stick to the wall make a unique form every time.  

A replica of Donald Judd's Picnic Table gives space to the viewers to comfortably eat their meal. It's functional table that can host many people as well as being able to display large objects on its surface is ideal for big meals or communal work. The table has an unusual rough finish and military aura. To make it more suitable for such a convivial environment, a new laminate called Noodle-Doodle covering its surface was produced. The pattern was made by throwing 31 strands of spaghetti on the wall, photographing them and re-tracing them in full cyan. Finally the laminated sheets have been sponsored and produced by Abet Laminati, the historical company who produced works with Alchimia, Memphis Group and other great designers and artists from the 50s until today. Inside the Built-in kitchen a small curated exhibition is taking place (recalling the curated exhibitions in the kitchen of Raymond Duchamp-Villion, Marcel Duchamp's brother) with small art-works by Arvo Leo, Eivind Nesterud, Federico Maddalozzo, Karl Holmqvist, Klara Liden and Melissa Dunn.