Fountain (Duchamp)

Many art historians see Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' as a seminal piece of art that marked the shift of the post modern understanding of what art is. Duchamp's fountain was created in 1917. He 'created' this piece of work through taking a functional urinal, an ordinary mass made object and signed his alter ego's name and dated it. He then submitted it to a salon show however was promptly rejected. By using the conventions of art, such as the signature and dating as well as the intention to exhibit it in a gallery, Duchamp challenged the definition of art. What does it take to make an art object? Is it the artists hand in creating something? Can it be a ready made object? Does it depend in the context it is shown in? Does it depend on the relationship with its viewer? In defence of his piece he states 'Mr Mutt's fountain is not immoral, that is absurd, no more than a bathtub is immoral. It is a fixture that you see every day in plumbers' shop windows. Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view - created a new thought for that object.' ('The Richard Mutt Case', The Blind Man, New York, no.2, May 1917, p.5.)

The 'Fountain' marked the transition of art into conceptual art. By turning the piece into an art that examined itself and deconstructed the previous assumptions art it is in line with the post modernist thinking. Furthermore it carries the idea of the definition of art as relative, it not being to exist as an explicit thing on its own but reliant on the relative context it is shown in. A ready made urinal in a bathroom is simply a urinal however when placed in the context of a gallery setting it makes the viewer think about what consists of art. The act of questioning the role of the artist is its very aim. 

Gewen, Barry. "State of the Art." NY Times. N.p., 11 Dec. 2005. Web. 25 May 2013. 

Video Credit: www.Khanacademy.org