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Cilla Conway |
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| Lectures on Contemporary Art: 1 |
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Modern Art Begins with a Urinal Duchamp and his legacy |
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| Duchamp: Fountain |
Duchamp:
Étant
Donné |
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Without Duchamp, what would the art of the 20th Century have looked like? Every now and again, someone comes along and, by their actions, changes the world forever. By placing his urinal on a plinth and calling it 'Fountain', Duchamp changed the world's art. |
When, in 1916, the judges finally accepted that a urinal is art because Duchamp said it was, they opened the door to the rest of the 20th Century art movements including Conceptualism, Fluxus, Installation art, and Performance. Duchamp himself was the century's Magician, even fooling the artworld by appearing to retire from art to play chess instead, emerging briefly to produce the first installation art. Only after his death was one last piece of work discovered: Étant Donné. |
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All contents copyright Cilla Conway (c) 2003
