Well I wouldn’t say categorically, as otherwise there wouldn’t still be discussions like this!
Though I take your points and there is certainly something to be said about the actual production of such items. I was speaking mainly on Winerack as I know that was a “readymade” but didn’t know much about Fountain before today and it certainly is interesting reading. I was under the impression that they were also simply porcelain urinals bought as is.
It doesn’t matter if it was readymade or not. Only the original urinal was bought from a hardware store. The point that Duchamp is trying to convey—and I would think it is similar with Winerack and Banana duct-taped to a wall—is that art is not the object itself. It is not pointing at an object and saying “that’s art”. The point is that art is what the artist makes, takes, extracts, transforms, then presents, in such a way that says or conveys a meaning to other people. An urinal, a winerack, a banana, a pile of garbage, 175 pounds of candy, a hat rack, or a spade, ordinary objects devoid of context say nothing until a person takes them and manipulates them into something that makes the object scream “look at me! now think about it”. It is the artist’s choices, human intention and action, that imbues objects with meaning and turn them into art. Often times the presentation is not accidental, but it was the result of thinking long and hard about how to best communicate the point the artists wants to make. The urinal could’ve been presented in its ordinary day-to-day form, but the orientation, the graffiti, the pieces that were removed that come with urinals, even the height at which it is supposed to be presented are intentional. The art is not the object, but the choices made by the artist.
Well I wouldn’t say categorically, as otherwise there wouldn’t still be discussions like this!
Though I take your points and there is certainly something to be said about the actual production of such items. I was speaking mainly on Winerack as I know that was a “readymade” but didn’t know much about Fountain before today and it certainly is interesting reading. I was under the impression that they were also simply porcelain urinals bought as is.
It doesn’t matter if it was readymade or not. Only the original urinal was bought from a hardware store. The point that Duchamp is trying to convey—and I would think it is similar with Winerack and Banana duct-taped to a wall—is that art is not the object itself. It is not pointing at an object and saying “that’s art”. The point is that art is what the artist makes, takes, extracts, transforms, then presents, in such a way that says or conveys a meaning to other people. An urinal, a winerack, a banana, a pile of garbage, 175 pounds of candy, a hat rack, or a spade, ordinary objects devoid of context say nothing until a person takes them and manipulates them into something that makes the object scream “look at me! now think about it”. It is the artist’s choices, human intention and action, that imbues objects with meaning and turn them into art. Often times the presentation is not accidental, but it was the result of thinking long and hard about how to best communicate the point the artists wants to make. The urinal could’ve been presented in its ordinary day-to-day form, but the orientation, the graffiti, the pieces that were removed that come with urinals, even the height at which it is supposed to be presented are intentional. The art is not the object, but the choices made by the artist.