Marco Brambilla Transforms Iconic Duchamp Painting for a Public Installation in Paris

Taking Marcel Duchamp’s iconic painting Nude Descending a Staircase No.2, Brambilla has applied modern technology to the original work, transforming it with the dimension of time and creating a brand new iteration using a contemporary visual language. Now a monumental digital masterpiece, Nude Descending a Staircase No.3 uses Duchamp’s deconstructed human figure to create a panoramic animation of the cubist form, which can now be seen in constant motion, descending an imaginary staircase.

In a rare case for his time, Duchamp modeled the original figure using Eadweard Muybridge’s photographic time studies—new technology then—as inspiration for the painting. By applying a similar process to the new video work, Brambilla pays homage to Duchamp and completes the circle, transporting Duchamp’s painting back into the realm of technology.