Duchamp's Fountain Robert Levine Summary

has been created before. Merely glancing at works of art or even this essay, it is possible to spot similarities and make connections, whether big or small, to work that has already been created. However, Levine is capable of “stripping the ‘aura’ of the work of art that is a sign of an increase in potential”, making her the author of her own art despite any critiques or beliefs that try to brand her a copy-cat. Levine recognizes that art plays a vital part in history and uses appropriation to embrace and enhance its importance, making her a revolutionist in the world of art. The post modern era brought forth a time of vast advancement that made it difficult to create anything that is considered original, but Levine redefines originality
She uses appropriation in a way “Which suspends meaning while perpetually dispatching you toward interpretation, urging you beyond dogmatism, beyond doctrine, beyond ideology, beyond authority”. However, Levine acknowledges that appropriation creates ties to another artists’ work and alters her work to make it original to her while enhancing its value. Adding value to Levine’s work can seen in the previous example of her appropriation of Duchamp’s Fountain. Here, the physical appearance of the reconstruction by Levine clearly holds more materialistic value and is more aesthetically pleasing. More importantly, however, it enhances Levine’s authorship and the attention it takes to make the connections between the two pieces adds value. Another example which support my argument that Levine’s use of appropriation is supported by her piece Crystal Skull, 2010. In this example Levine does not use the work of another artist, but rather a human skull. Like Duchamp’s Fountain piece shook the art world by incorporating an object and claiming it is art, Levine took a human corpse and caused commotion and further changed what makes a work of art valuable. Critics such as Saltz claims “Levine’s sadistic level of artistic