Marcel Duchamp's 1917: The Fountain
Taking a Look At Marcel Duchamp’s 1917 “The Fountain”
Emily Lindeau
ART 106
April 17, 2016
You walk into the gallery, pedistools every few feet and grand stretched canvases on the wall. As you round the corner you see a drammatic light hit the shiney porcelain bowl and you lose it, you just cant stop laughing. There sits Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Foutain’. Is this guy serious? He takes a urinal and places it upside down and suddenly its a work of art? Thats silly and seems almost disrespectful. What could he possibly be trying to celebrate with such a disgusting everyday item? Originally this work was submitted anonymously to the exhibition of the American Independent Artist Society in 1917, with the tagged name …show more content…
In Wesley Cray’s article “Conceptual Art, Ideas, and Ontology” – he breaks down part of what Duchamp pushes through with his work. He states before 1917 that a urinal wasn’t a work of art, it was Duchamp who set it into motion. Along with reminding us that because of Duchamp’s ideologies in his work, Fountain exists as its own idea. If it was lost or misplaced – which it was, then it is still the same idea and the same urinal. The ideas that drove his piece still exist even if the piece no longer …show more content…
Author Dalia Judovitz would argue that it "flushed the notion of artistic value down the drain." Judovitz wrote a book called “Unpacking Duchamp” where she addresses his ability to mimic art without being classified as art. Other scholars interpreted Duchamp’s work as a statement of neutrality. It was almost impossible for a urinal to remain a neutral aesthetic when it was presented in a gallery setting. The idea of something such as a toilet as art is enough to anger and confused many people.
Bibliography
CRAY, WESLEY D. "Conceptual Art, Ideas, and Ontology." Journal Of Aesthetics & Art Criticism 72, no. 3 (Summer2014 2014): 235-245. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 17, 2016).
Judovitz, Dalia, and Marcel Duchamp. Unpacking Duchamp: Art in Transit. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. P 160. "Marcel Duchamp, 'Fountain' 1917, Replica 1964." Tate. Accessed April 17, 2016. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573/text-summary.
"Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917/1964." SFMOMA. Accessed April 17, 2016.
Emily Lindeau
ART 106
April 17, 2016
You walk into the gallery, pedistools every few feet and grand stretched canvases on the wall. As you round the corner you see a drammatic light hit the shiney porcelain bowl and you lose it, you just cant stop laughing. There sits Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Foutain’. Is this guy serious? He takes a urinal and places it upside down and suddenly its a work of art? Thats silly and seems almost disrespectful. What could he possibly be trying to celebrate with such a disgusting everyday item? Originally this work was submitted anonymously to the exhibition of the American Independent Artist Society in 1917, with the tagged name …show more content…
In Wesley Cray’s article “Conceptual Art, Ideas, and Ontology” – he breaks down part of what Duchamp pushes through with his work. He states before 1917 that a urinal wasn’t a work of art, it was Duchamp who set it into motion. Along with reminding us that because of Duchamp’s ideologies in his work, Fountain exists as its own idea. If it was lost or misplaced – which it was, then it is still the same idea and the same urinal. The ideas that drove his piece still exist even if the piece no longer …show more content…
Author Dalia Judovitz would argue that it "flushed the notion of artistic value down the drain." Judovitz wrote a book called “Unpacking Duchamp” where she addresses his ability to mimic art without being classified as art. Other scholars interpreted Duchamp’s work as a statement of neutrality. It was almost impossible for a urinal to remain a neutral aesthetic when it was presented in a gallery setting. The idea of something such as a toilet as art is enough to anger and confused many people.
Bibliography
CRAY, WESLEY D. "Conceptual Art, Ideas, and Ontology." Journal Of Aesthetics & Art Criticism 72, no. 3 (Summer2014 2014): 235-245. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 17, 2016).
Judovitz, Dalia, and Marcel Duchamp. Unpacking Duchamp: Art in Transit. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. P 160. "Marcel Duchamp, 'Fountain' 1917, Replica 1964." Tate. Accessed April 17, 2016. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573/text-summary.
"Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917/1964." SFMOMA. Accessed April 17, 2016.