NP Rrose Selavy

[davemarc]

> From: FrodeauxB at aol.com
> 
> I think either Man Ray or Max Ernst did a Surrealist objet d'art of a
woman 
> called Rose Ceilavie. Refer to the French expression "Ces't la vie".

Duchamp's alter-ego was Rrose Selavy--I think that can be read as "Desire
is Life."   According to Calvin Tomkins, Man Ray took a picture of Duchamp
in drag "to signalize" Duchamp's adoption of this new identity.

Said Duchamp:  "I just wanted two identities, that's all....It was a sort
of readymadeish action.  I first wanted to get a Jewish name, but I didn't
find one.  Then the idea jumped at me, why not a female name?  Marvelous! 
Much better than to change religion would be to change sex.  Rose was the
most corny name for a girl at that time in French, and Selavy, of course,
was C'est la vie.  The double r in Rrose came from a play on words in
Picabia's painting The Cacodylactic Eye, which he wanted all his friends to
sign; in signing it I used the word arroser, and that gave me the idea of
keeping the two r's in the name."

d.