3 Standard Stoppages by Marcel Duchamp

This revolutionary work of 1913 and 1914 remains one of the most famous examples of the use of chance in the history of art. Duchamp employed chance operations by dropping three one-meter threads, allowing them to take on random forms. He then traced and mounted these shapes as a commentary on the limitations of standard measurement systems. Duchamp’s exploration of chance and random processes questioned fundamental ideas such as artistic control and authorship, foreshadowing Dada as well as the embrace of generative algorithms in art creation. Crucially, his work gave legitimacy and recognition for chance operations in art, opening up possibilities for generative art and its algorithmic processes. This was part of Duchamp’s larger impact on conceptualism and shifting the focus from the artist’s hand to the underlying systems and concepts. This work, in the MoMA permanent collection, is thus one of the most foundation to this story of generative art history.