Why'd They Put That In A Museum?
Art. Objects. Museums. Ideas. Questions. What happens when you put things on display and invite people in to look? Have you ever seen art on display and wondered, “Why’d they put that in a museum?” Museum curator Sarah Lees and author Beth Bacon start each conversation with one item, in one specific museum. We explore the object, its history, and the cultural ideas surrounding it. In the end, that object takes on new meaning as listeners discover the fascinating reasons it ended up in a museum.
Why'd They Put That In A Museum?
Marcel Duchamp Bicycle Wheel
The sculpture Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp is playfully irreverent and deceptively simple. It’s just a rim and a stool. But the concepts behind it are lot more complicated. In the century since it was created, it has become significantly influential in the world of contemporary art. In this episode of Why’d They Put That In A Museum, Sarah Lees and Beth Bacon take the 'Bicycle Wheel' sculpture for a spin. They explain why Duchamp created ready-mades and talk about his part on the Dada movement. They discuss Duchamp’s relationships with artists from Pablo Picasso to Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and others. To Duchamp, ideas were what makes art, art. And then one day, he stopped creating art altogether and became a chess master. What an idea!
© 2025 Why'd They Put That In A Museum podcast hosts Beth Bacon and Sarah Lees.
