New York Dada known and controversial across the New York, as well as American in general, art scene. His personality was equally intoxicating as his art; according to Richter, "Duchamp's attitude is that life is a melancholy joke, an indecipherable non-sense, not worth the trouble of investigating. To his superior intelligence the total absurdity of life, the contingent nature of a world denuded of all values, are logical consequences of Descartes' Cogito ergo sum." Most famous amongst the works created by Duchamp in the New York period were his ready-mades, particularly the piece entitled "Fountain". During his time in New York he maintained
Mr. Cogito Cogito and Pure Thought"), "Pan Cogito czyta gazetę" ("Mr. Cogito Reads A Newspaper"), "Pan Cogito a ruch myśli" (" Mr. Cogito and the Motion of Thought"), "Domy przedmieścia" ("Houses On The Outskirts Of The City"), "Alienacje Pana Cogito" ("Mr. Cogito's Alienations"), "Pan Cogito obserwuje zmarłego przyjaciela" ("Mr. Cogito Watches a Deceased Friend"), "Późnojesienny wiersz Pana Cogito przeznaczony dla kobiecych pism" ("Mr. Cogito's Late Autumn Poem For Women's Magazines"), "Pan Cogito rozważa różnice między głosem ludzkim a głosem przyrody" ("Mr. Cogito Considers the Difference Between the Human Voice And The Voice of Nature"), "Pan Cogito biada nad małością snów" (Mr. Cogito