Marcel Duchamp is one of the most influential conceptual artists of the twentieth century. His persona and groundbreaking approach to art and exhibition-making, at the heart of which is the concept of the readymade, have inspired artists and filmmakers during his lifetime and until today.

‘Duchamp and Chess’ opens with French filmmaker Jean-Marie Drot’s documentary portrait, Marcel Duchamp: A Game of Chess (1963), in which Duchamp discusses the intellectual rigour of the game and explains how he applied its underlying values to his art. He speaks about life and art, including his involvement in modern movements such as Dada, Surrealism, Futurism, Kinetic Art, and Conceptual Art.

Shigeko Kubota’s Marcel Duchamp and John Cage (1972) pays homage to Duchamp and documents his final public appearance. The video features recordings and photographs from Reunion, a famous 1968 electronic chess match between Duchamp, his second wife, Teeny, and John Cage, in which their board was wired for sound and functioned as a musical instrument. The work is enriched with John Cage’s storytelling and piano performance, as well as recordings of his compositions that Kubota heavily processed.

Based on an essay by Steven Gerrad, Amit Dutta’s Wittgenstein Plays Chess with Marcel Duchamp, or How Not to Do Philosophy (2021) is a striking reflection on Duchamp’s philosophy and a testimony of his long-lasting influence. Dutta creates a fictional chess game between Duchamp and philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The animation juxtaposes conceptual and visual elements from science and humanities, exploring the background of the duo while contemplating the purpose of art and philosophy.