The art of the Quay Brothers in the light of The Large Glass: the Tale

Abstract

Both stop-motion and live, the elaborate scenic art of the Quay Brothers is notoriously mysterious. Eschewing the codes of narrative cinema, their largely hand crafted imaginary world defies clear-cut definitions.  On closer inspection, it is seen to share formal components with the strategies of Duchamp’s unfinished conceptual structure Large Glass. To what extent may it be said that these enigmatic arte-facts, cinematic or static, tell a story?  As a comparative method of enquiry, the question may help to shed light on the telling of tales as such.