Rrose Selavy

2010

toughened sandblasted eclipse glass, natural masonry block, ed.3
1840H x 400W x 400mmD

Series: Glazed I’s, Subject-Object

The twin towers of raw block and single pane of two-faced glass in Rrose Selavy develop a split personality, inclined to self-critique. Depending on the angle of approach, the work offers an opaque surface, an outline, and a translucent mirror. In profile, multiple features slide into one line held tight between two legs. In a narcissistic loop, the work internalises itself and the viewer who in turn cannot escape the self.

A nom de plume first used by Marcel Duchamp in 1921, Rrose Selavy was an erotic pun based on the French phrase 'Eros, c'est la vie' (Eros, that's life). Works 'by' Rrose Selavy, Duchamp's female alter-ego, employed aphorisms and puns to critique art blindspots and establish turning points in both artists' oeuvres.