當代藝術鼻祖馬歇爾‧杜象放棄傳統油畫創作，花費八年的時間（從1915至1923年），經營反文化作品《大玻璃》，他將此作品下半部的造形命名為「單身機器」，藉由機械與有機元素的交錯配置，發展出一種跳脫規範和轉移空間的體系，成為探討現（當）代藝術創作議題的焦點，被視為「單身機器」傳統的創始者。1954年，米歇爾‧卡胡茨以此為題撰寫論文，1976年出書，以杜象為主列出「單身機器」清單。同年，慕尼黑舉辦同名展覽，受到藝評家的廣泛關注，甚至認為當代某些藝術家的創作似乎在意圖「破除」杜象所創「單身機器」的傳統。為何杜象要選用「單身機器」作為其創作的語彙？其背景為何？特色為何？為何被視為須加以破除？實值得討論。為此，研究者透過相關文獻資料探索，經由分析與比較，發現「單身機器」思潮的出現和機器文明的日漸發展關係十分密切，而且機器愈是被發明並擴大其功能，這種思潮愈是成為文學創作的靈感來源，最終在二十世紀初被杜象援用而躍上現（當）代藝術的創作舞台，其時空背景與效應值得撰文探討論述，期盼對欲進一步瞭解當代藝術的年輕學子或藝術愛好者有所助益。

After parting with oil paintings, Marcel Duchamp, the originator of Contemporary Art, had spent eight years (1985-1923) on counterculture work “The Large Glass”. He named the lower half of this work as “Bachelor Machine”, and developed a non-conventional and space-transferring mechanical system by cross-placement of machines and organic elements. Duchamp and his analysis of “Bachelor Machine” became a hot issue, he was also regarded as the founder of this trend. In 1958, Michel Carrouges wrote a thesis about “Bachelor Machine”. In 1976, Carrouges published a book containing a list of “Bachelor Machine” with a focus on Duchamp. In the same year, an exhibition held in Munich, raised critics’ awareness of “Bachelor Machine”. It was even considered that some contemporary artists (such as Rebecca Horn) intended to overthrow the tradition of Duchamp’s “Bachelor Machine”. Why Duchamp use “Bachelor Machine” as vocabulary in his creations? What was the background information on it? What were the characteristics of it? Why was it regarded as a rule that has to be broken? The researcher studied relevant data and found a close connection between the trend of “Bachelor Machine” and gradual development of machines. It was also found that the better invention of machines made the trend of “Bachelor Machine” become more popular. Duchamp eventually utilized and brought it to the stage of Modern and Contemporary Art. The background on what’s happening is worth investigating. It is the researcher's hope that young students or people who are interested in Modern and Contemporary art can benefit from the findings of this paper.