A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

Finally the cubist approach works by montage, by juxtaposition and compression of disparate items, from multiple planes of action and various frames of reference. It eschews the established essays and tractarian development of a single line of reason or a single level of discussion. For the expansion of argument by indirection in single perspective it substitutes agility, in creating a shifting viewpoint. The object remains fixed but the spectator has to be constantly active like a cameraman. So that the multiple views of the same object or theme serve in place of the usual development of “explanation” from a static position. It is in this way, also, that a montage of exhibits from various fields of popular culture result in an inconclusive image of a kind more than popular.  
From a 1947 draft of “Typhon,” a hand written manuscript that preceded, and grew into The Mechanical Bride, p 6   
Year: 1947
Chapter: Cubism
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan