Speculations from À l'Infinitif (La Boîte Blanche) (In the Infinitive [The White Box])

Speculations from À l'Infinitif (La Boîte Blanche) (In the Infinitive [The White Box]) by Marcel Duchamp is a crucial conceptual work created during his formative period, begun around 1912, revealing the meticulous intellectual process behind his most ambitious projects. This piece, classified specifically as an Illustrated Book, takes the form of a folder housing sixteen precise collotype reproductions of the artist’s original manuscript notes and drawings. These documents are critical illustrations of Duchamp's conceptual transition away from traditional painting and toward the foundational ideas that would establish Dada and conceptual art in the American cultural context.

Duchamp produced the underlying concepts and preliminary documents for this project over an extended period spanning 1912–20, primarily during his initial years in New York. The decision to reproduce the notes as a folder of individual sheets, rather than a bound volume, emphasizes their status as unbound ideas, fragmented yet cohesive documentation of creative speculation. The medium, utilizing the collotype process, ensured that these high-quality prints maintained the texture and authenticity of the handwritten originals, making the intellectual process itself the object of study.

Often referenced simply as the La Boîte Blanche, the work is integral to understanding Duchamp's radical emphasis on intellectual process over visual execution. While the original manuscript materials date to the early 20th century, this accessible, standardized edition was formally published in 1966. This compilation, embodying the unique period of 1912–20 when Duchamp solidified his reputation as an American Modernist figure, reinforces his influence on subsequent generations of artists who would explore text, context, and documentation as artistic media. This seminal example of an Illustrated Book resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).