A urinal -- Flipped 90 degrees and Signed. This was submitted to be displayed at the Grand Central Palace in New York, 1917, by one revolutionary artist: Marcel Duchamp.
Image: 'Fountain' (1917)
Duchamp, born and raised in France, began his artistic endeavour at a young age, following his older siblings who were painters and sculptors. His early body of work consisted of paintings that “ borrow aspects from Monet, Cézanne, and Impressionists.” (1) and was later influenced by cubism developed by French and Spanish artists including the famous Pablo Picasso. One of his most well known cubist paintings, ‘Nude descending a staircase’ (1912), was unique even in the cubist realm; while most cubist works featured motionless figures, Duchamp’s piece focused on a subject in motion. (2)
Image: 'Nude descending a staircase' (1912)
Duchamp was always ready for change, and this was further proven in the early 20th century with the establishment of Dada. Yes, “Dada” is a funny sounding word. In fact, it translates to “yes,yes” in rumanian and “hobby horse” in french, and to the German author and poet, Hugo Ball (one of the founders of Dadaism) it made perfect sense, claiming, “For Germans it is a sign of foolish naiveté, joy in procreation, and preoccupation with the baby carriage” (3).
You’re confused. And that reflects exactly how the public and art critics responded to Dada, the art movement that redefined art. Besides “Dada” or “hobby horse”, it was also known as “anti-art” as it questioned the “the role of art in the modern age.” (4) What is art? Is the question that ran through the minds of artists at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Switzerland; known as the birthplace of the movement. In this artistic night club, artists who resulted in Switzerland dodging the first world war gathered to share attitudes on “capitalist culture, the war, and the concurrent degradation of art” (4) through forms of radical literacy, musical, and dance performances.
In the crowd was Duchamp, who like many of the Dadaist artists were indignant with violence, nationalist nations, the Bourgeois, and craved the rejection of reason and logic of capitalist society which was believed to be the cause of war (5). The Dadaists carried such emotions in their irrational, absurd and chaotic pieces, which for Duchamp was, ‘Fountain’.
“Readymades” he called them: Artworks that used manufactured and mass-produced objects. ‘Fountain’ was the most notorious of them. Duchamp believed that “An ordinary object [could be] elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist”. The value was not on the aesthetics of the artwork, but the mind of the artist, he believed, albeit the criticism he received. It was not in the “what” but the “why” and “how”. What was significant about ‘Fountain’ was that it was disagreeable. There is nothing mesmerizing about a urinal, even more so to see it displayed in an art gallery. But conformity would defy his purpose. Some would even interpret the urinal as a metaphor for art: that art is something to be pissed on. (6)
Fountain, a urinal, a backstabbing and hysterical response to the culture, society, and art of the then and the past. But this is only one of the many controversial works created by Duchamp. If you’re up for it, go look for ‘The Bicycle Wheel’. Does it belong in a bike shop or an art museum?
Cros, C., 2013. Marcel Duchamp. London: Reaktion Books.
Study.com. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://study.com/academy/lesson/duchamps-cubism-nude-descending-a-staircase-portrait-of-chess-players.html> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
Trachtman, P., 2021. A Brief History of Dada. [online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/dada-115169154/> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
Artland Magazine. 2021. What is dadaism, dada art, or a dadaist? | Artland Magazine. [online] Available at: <https://magazine.artland.com/what-is-dadaism/> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Dada - Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
Hicks, Stephen R. C. (2004). Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. Tempe, AZ: Scholargy Press. p. 196. ISBN 1-59247-646-5.
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