Skibidi Chess

"While all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists." - Marcel Duchamp

Brrr skibidi dop dop yes yes

Know your memes.  It didn’t start with a toilet… it may have actually started with a urinal over 100 years ago.  For reals… that’s early 20th century toilet (or should that be toilette) humour!

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp submitted “Fountain”, a porcelain urinal signed “R. Mutt”, to the inaugural exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists. Some might consider this an “S-Tier” poopie post after a scathing review from an art critic calling “Portrait of Marcel Duchamp” (created by Marcel’s brother in-law), “the absolute expression of a plumber”. Even Duchamp's choice to sign the piece “R. Mutt” pokes fun at the art world (and what’s considered art) as “Richard” was a derogatory slang term for "money-bags" (or the bourgeoisie).

Duchamp’s “Fountain” helped define Dadaism, a movement rejecting conventional art values by embracing absurdity and provocation.  Nothing could be more skibidi or OTF!

If there is any doubt how Dadaism influenced meme culture I present to you this piece from 1919.  It's got remixing of media, absurd humour as critique, anti-establishment spirit, rapid spread, playing with context, and self-aware, inside-joke culture (IYKYK).

Dadaism and skibidi may originate from a shared nihilism of the world.  Dadaism as a reaction to the horrors of World War 1 and brain rot humour from anxiety about the future. Absurdity may be the common coping mechanism while the differences may be in how they received their dose of doom.

Duchamp created art of another everyday object by designing a chess set. Like “Fountain”, Duchamp called these “readymades”.

"I am still a victim of chess. It is like a drug." - Marcel Duchamp

By the mid-1920’s, Duchamp dedicated himself to chess.  He became a chess master and represented France in five chess Olympiads.  Traditional art-making wasn’t the only valid creative pursuit... life choices themselves could be a form of conceptual art.

Duchamp brought an avant-garde flair to chess.  He made chess more than a sport… it was an intellectual performance. Chess wasn’t an escape from art, it became another medium for expressing it.

By the way, Duchamp’s “Fountain” was voted the most influential artwork of the 20th century by British artworks professionals in 2004. Perhaps imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

1900s-1910 (Early experiments)

• 1913 – Bicycle Wheel (first readymade) — while still producing paintings and Cubist works.
• 1914 – Bottle Rack — pure, unaltered object.
• 1915–1917 – Creates several assisted readymades (In Advance of the Broken Arm, Fountain, Comb).
• 1918 – Moves to Buenos Aires, studies chess intensely, plays in local clubs. Designs a chess set.
• 1919 – Competes in his first notable chess tournament in Buenos Aires.

1920s (Transition from art to chess)

• 1920 – Fresh Widow (miniature French window with black leather panes).
• 1922 – Plays in French Chess Championship (Paris).
• 1923 – Publicly says he has “stopped making art” to focus on chess.
• 1924 – Represents France in the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad (Paris).
• 1925 – Plays in the 1st official FIDE Chess Olympiad (London).
• 1926 – Represents France again in the 2nd Chess Olympiad (Budapest).
• 1928 – Plays in The Hague Chess Olympiad.
• 1929 – Venice Chess Olympiad.

1930s (Chess deep dive)

• 1930 – Hamburg Chess Olympiad.
• 1932 – Co-authors Opposition and Sister Squares Are Reconciled with Vitaly Halberstadt (an endgame study book with avant-garde design).
• 1933 – Folkestone Chess Olympiad.
• 1935 – Participates in several major French tournaments; gradually reduces competitive play afterward.

1940s-1960s (Occasional art and chess obsession)

• 1942 – Moves to New York during WWII, still plays chess regularly in clubs.
• 1946–1966 – Works in secret on Étant donnés while continuing casual and correspondence chess.
• 1964 – Authorizes reproductions of his early readymades (the “Galleria Schwarz” edition).
• 1967 – Plays exhibition chess with notable masters; gives interviews about chess as art.

Additional Insights

• Duchamp’s most radical readymades (1913–1917) happened just before his most serious chess playing began (1920s–1930s).
• Leaving art in 1923 coincides almost perfectly with his peak competitive chess playing years.
• Even while “not making art,” he produced chess-related works (Opposition and Sister Squares, chess-themed drawings).  Chess is art!

Related reading

• Copyright war over Duchamp chess set, https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/copyright-war-over-duchamp-chess-set
• Marcel Duchamp and Chess, https://www.chess.com/article/view/marcel-duchamp-and-chess