In August 1946, Marcel Duchamp spent five weeks in Switzerland, and
stayed at the Hotel Bellevue (today, Le Baron Tavernier) near Chexbres,
on Lake Geneva. It was here that he discovered the Forestay waterfall,
which was to become the starting point for (and ultimately the landscape
of) his enigmatic and final masterpiece, "Étant donnés: 1° la chute
d'eau, 2° le gaz d'éclairage" ("Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The
Illuminating Gas"). Now, for the first time, the full significance of
the choice of this waterfall is explored. Among the contributors to this
volume are Caroline Bachmann, Stefan Banz, Etienne Barilier, Lars
Blunck, Ecke Bonk, Paul B. Franklin, Antje von Graevenitz, Dalia
Judovitz, Michael Lüthy, Bernard Marcadé, Herbert Molderings, Adeena
Mey, Stanislaus von Moos, Francis M. Naumann, Mark Nelson, Molly Nesbit,
Dominique Radrizzani, Roman Signer, Michael R. Taylor, Hans Maria de
Wolf and Philip Ursprung.