Lectures on Contemporary Art: 4

Sculpture

from ready-mades to installation

Duchamp and Picasso were the harbingers of the modern era. Duchamp, of course, with his ready-mades, would be referred to by countless artists, especially conceptualists. Picasso's sculpture shows him most inventive and humorous. As time has passed, artists have tended to blur the boundaries between the different sectors of art, and many now move freely between different media.

Duchamp also produced arguably the first installation piece - 1000 bags of coal. That was in the 1940s. Now we have installation pieces of oil, guns, feathers, pollen and oil, tents, chairs and beds; pianos and violins, light and fat. Today, it is possible to work in any medium you choose - including milk, semen, faeces and blood. You can even breed flies or grow grass.