Forms of Readymade Chapter 16
Opinion paper
So, what this chapter talks a lot about is the works of a man named “Marcel Duchamp” who
used to paint and create cubist works of art but as soon as he saw an exhibit called Impressions
of Africa which included machine sculptures that had purposes to fulfill. It talked about a
sculpture weaving a reference from the bible and another sculpture playing with water to
create music. Duchamp was influenced to start creating his own machines and first he did so in
paintings but that wasn’t enough, he wanted to start creating sculptures which then led him
down the path for seeking the answer to the question “What makes a work of art”. Now he
thought that the “work” he could put in was merely the act of selection. He had a work of art
called “the fountain” which was basically his signature written on a urinal. Which is a
commentary on “The conventional relationship” between an artist and a work of art. He
continues to show reasons to support that his works can be called “art “. “For the meaning of
most art objects. is lodged within a mesh of ideas and feelings held by the creator of the work,
passed through the act of authorship into the work, and thereby transmitted to a viewer or
reader of it.” A piece of art is defined by the emotions and feelings imbued into the creation of
a work and then it can be read by the viewer. Duchamp submitted his piece into “the fountain
1917” into an art show where the exhibitors hid the sculpture from view for “not being a
conventional piece of art” and not being “in good taste. Duchamp thought that they needed to
read it on a “metaphysical level”. Since he rotated the urinal on it back it was no longer a urinal.
And through that act alone it was now a completely different thing. I can agree that anything
can be a work of art as long as the artist intend to convey his emotions and a message through
the work of art. Although Duchamp’s “The fountain 1917” was defiantly considered unorthodox
at the time of its creation it seems it could fit more into the contemporary work of 20th century
artists.