Yasumasa Morimura and Marcel Duchamp: Appropriations
Art speech: Artists who appropriate
The post modern era is one in which things were twisted, changed and critiqued. Some people questioned the ways and ‘rules’ of society, rebelling against conformity and the usual ideas of what was ‘right’ or ‘allowed’. Artists were largely in this group. Marcel Duchamp and Yasumasa Morimura are examples of artists who appropriated other people, things and paintings in their work, to change their meanings, and either rebel against the norms of society, make a statement about issues affecting them and their culture, or to add humour to a once serious piece. Marcel Duchamp, born in France in 1887, to an artistic family, was an expressive artist who was able to think outside the square, and through his works, recreated the idea of what art actually was. Duchamp became a cult pop art figure, and influenced the surrealism and dada movements. He studied at academy Julian, and was always very creative. This led to his expanding his ideas, leading to him questioning the very idea of art. He pushed the boundaries of society, changed how people look and judged art, and raised a few eyebrows along the way.
He began to drift away from painting (must have been too generic for him) and started experimenting with ready-mades, thus he created one of his first famously odd pieces, fountain. Duchamp took a regular urinal, and flipped it over, signed it ‘R.Mutt’, apparently to protect his identity, and thus completely changed the urinals context and meaning. He divorced it from its original bathroom scene, where it was a urinal, and made it a fountain.
The main purpose of fountain is to make a statement to society, and that it does. It is evidence that art can be anything, it is not up to anyone but the artist to choose what art is. Duchamp was making a statement about the reasoning behind the unsaid rules of art, and it was these he set out to challenge, as showed in his words: “An artist does not need to create a piece himself to have
The post modern era is one in which things were twisted, changed and critiqued. Some people questioned the ways and ‘rules’ of society, rebelling against conformity and the usual ideas of what was ‘right’ or ‘allowed’. Artists were largely in this group. Marcel Duchamp and Yasumasa Morimura are examples of artists who appropriated other people, things and paintings in their work, to change their meanings, and either rebel against the norms of society, make a statement about issues affecting them and their culture, or to add humour to a once serious piece. Marcel Duchamp, born in France in 1887, to an artistic family, was an expressive artist who was able to think outside the square, and through his works, recreated the idea of what art actually was. Duchamp became a cult pop art figure, and influenced the surrealism and dada movements. He studied at academy Julian, and was always very creative. This led to his expanding his ideas, leading to him questioning the very idea of art. He pushed the boundaries of society, changed how people look and judged art, and raised a few eyebrows along the way.
He began to drift away from painting (must have been too generic for him) and started experimenting with ready-mades, thus he created one of his first famously odd pieces, fountain. Duchamp took a regular urinal, and flipped it over, signed it ‘R.Mutt’, apparently to protect his identity, and thus completely changed the urinals context and meaning. He divorced it from its original bathroom scene, where it was a urinal, and made it a fountain.
The main purpose of fountain is to make a statement to society, and that it does. It is evidence that art can be anything, it is not up to anyone but the artist to choose what art is. Duchamp was making a statement about the reasoning behind the unsaid rules of art, and it was these he set out to challenge, as showed in his words: “An artist does not need to create a piece himself to have