R. Mutt's Fountain - Marcel Duchamp

This urinal submitted by Marcel Duchamp is one of the most famous forms of “anti-art” or counter cultural artistic statements was "created" in 1917. This piece came up during our discussion of Dadaism in class, an early 20^th century art movement in Europe and the U.S. Marcel Duchamp is also the most famous dadaist within the United States.

Duchamp was born in 1887 in France, eventually moving to the U.S. and becoming a citizen in 1955. He gained infamy, which then grew into fame as the Avant-Garde nature of dadaism grew into popularity.

Duchamp shook the art world with this piece with this hugely art counter-culture piece, it was meant as an affront to the industry of Art Marketing. As for myself, I enjoy this piece of art because it's quite funny, and that is really all. Perhaps that was the point, to loosen the chains of decorum and politeness, and maybe just laugh at some “toilet” humor. Another point that I particularly enjoy about it is that its not just a urinal it's a brand new one straight from the store with 0 modification, well with the exception of a certain signature from R. Mutt.

This very Avant-Garde attitude served Marcel Duchamp very well, as he served as a precursor to much of the ideas behind Conceptual art and Cybernetics. Interactivity is the main aspect of Cybernetics which Marcel Duchamp pioneered it is one of the most relevant parts of Cybernetics which may not have arrived as quickly without Duchamp.