Universal Principles of Art

69 READYMADES

DESIGNATING AN OBJECT AS AN ARTWORK

Although an artwork is usually defined as a product of human agency, a number of modern artists have contended that any object whatsoever can be presented or designated as a work of art. Such objects are known as “readymades.”

The first appearance of this idea occurred in 1917, when Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) famously exhibited, or tried to exhibit, a porcelain urinal as a sculpture. The occasion was an exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in New York, and the sculpture was submitted under the pseudonym “R. Mutt.” Even though Duchamp sat on the selection committee of the society, the work was rejected. Duchamp resigned in protest. The work was subsequently photographed in the studio ...