Marcel Duchamp: Fountain (1917 & 1964)

Currently displayed in the Tate Modern, London, adjacent to one of Andy Worhol’s Brillo Boxes, this is probably the most famous Dada piece. Duchamp again chooses a manufactured object that, when divorced from its intended function, can be viewed as a highly successful piece of sculpture: It suggests movement, and creates tension with a dynamic relationship between positive and negative space. It also introduces an element of the magical by transforming an everyday act into a poetic act. The title, ‘Fountain’, associates a basic bodily function with a concept of beauty and grandeur… whilst at the same time, ‘pissing on art’. The issue of social divisions is also implied with this being a gender specific object. This pre-dates Worhol’s similar use of everyday objects in art by nearly a half-century! Again, Duchamp played with the ideas of art and celebrity by signing the piece using the pseudonym ‘R Mutt’.

Understandably, this piece caused much controversy when it was almost exhibited in New York. Apparently, the gallery, at the last minute, decided that it was not suitable for public display and hid it behind a screen. The object (or ‘objet’ ) was much talked about by critics and fellow exhibitors, though not shown to the general public. As a response to this, Duchamp took Fountain to the studio of his associate Alfred Stieglitz, where it was visually recorded by the influential photographer before being ‘lost’.

In May of 1918, Duchamp transmediated the work when he published the photograph along with a short but exceptionally profound piece of text in an arts magazine titled The Blind Man. His caption to the now iconic photograph read, "Whether Mr Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He Chose it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view - created a new thought for that object." This was the ‘monolith moment’ of Modernism.

From this point on, the whole idea of what art was, who decides what art is and who it belongs to was in turmoil. Duchamp had proven that it was the concept that mattered, not the technical skill of the artist, not even the artefact that constituted the piece of ‘art’ itself. Here was a radical piece of art that no longer existed, being reproduced in another form as a two-dimensional photograph, yet it retained its meaning and if anything had gathered more power and emphasised its meanings by its own absence.

In 2004, a major survey of 500 top artists, curators, critics and dealers was undertaken by UK’s Turner Prize sponsors Gordon’s Gin. The survey asked these art world luminaries what they considered to be the top three most influential pieces of art of the twentieth century, rated in order. Overwhelmingly voted as the chart-topper was Duchamp’s Fountain.

(Filling the remainder of the chart were Pablo Picasso’s Demoiselles d'Avignon in second place; Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych was third; Pablo Picasso in again at fourth with Guernica; Henri Matisse’s The Red Studio was fifth; Joseph Beuys with I Like America and America Likes Me aka Coyote at sixth; Constantin Brancusi’s Endless Column at seventh; Jackson Pollock’s One: No 31 was eighth;  Donald Judd’s 100 untitled works in mill aluminium was ninth; with Reclining Figure 192 by Henry Moore in tenth place.)

By the time that Fountain had gained iconic status, the original piece was long gone and the same model was no longer available from the original suppliers. So, several replicas were then hand-crafted from the photographic evidence of Stieglitz, under personal direction from Duchamp, who then signed and dated them. It is these multiple replicas of a lost readymade that now reside in some of the most prestigious galleries in the world. 

Duchamp often expressed the opinion that Modern art was taken too seriously, and that humour could be an effective way of addressing the most serious issues. He had the last laugh here.

MORE:

A good article focussing on Duchamp's Readymades of this period at the e-flux blog...

Click image above for reviews or to buy this overview of Duchamp's life and works from Taschen