Duchamp’s Urinal Culture Pick of the day
Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, a factory-made urinal, was probably the most influential artwork of the 20th century. It was the first conceptual art, and the concept here was contradiction: A urinal was not art; yet when displayed by an artist in an art gallery it was art. So art could be anything. Duchamp was both mocking the art world and vastly extending its possibilities. “Instead of paintings and sculptures, art was suddenly Brillo boxes, an unmade bed, or a light-bulb plugged into a lemon” (2,900 words)
