Marcel Duchamp and His Impact on Art
Although he shunned associations, the painter and mixed-media artist Marcel Duchamp was associated with Dadaism, Surrealism, and Cubism. According to the 2017 article "MoMA | Marcel Duchamp. In Advance of the Broken Arm. August 1964 (fourth version, after lost original of November 1915)", his work is recognizable for its comedy, conventionality, and range of media. Duchamp's legacy was the realization that art might be viewed as an idea rather than a material object. The following generations of artists would later embrace this new idea.
Duchamp's Concept of Readymades
Duchamp invented a new genre of art in an effort to defy every convention of traditional art. His ideas were to create art that engaged the mind rather than the eyes and provoked the observers thinking and participation. The Bicycle Wheel was the first form of the objects that Duchamp made and described it as "readymade." Readymades refer to different assemblage of objects with specific ideas that unite them. Between 1915 and 1923 he made twenty-one kinds of readymades.
Breaking Traditional Artistic Rules
Duchamp reasoned that in breaking the traditional artistic rules, it was paramount to start by removing art's most essential values - artisanship and beauty. The readymades came as an answer to all his attempt in which he made work of art that was not "of art." For instance, the idea of "In Advance of the Broken Arm" where he used a snow shovel.
Duchamp's Legacy and Current Perspectives
His attempt was an audacious proposal. When considering his ideas with current work of art, it is apparent that Duchamp may have failed. People still regard art from the visual perspective and its esthetic component instead of the idea behind it. For instance, the snow shovel that Duchamp used to communicate his concept is placed in a museum and worth much as compared to other similar shovels just because Duchamp set it.
Reference
MoMA | Marcel Duchamp. In Advance of the Broken Arm. August 1964 (fourth version, after lost original of November 1915). (2017). Moma.org. Retrieved 21 October 2017, from https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/marcel-duchamp-in-advance-of-the-broken-arm-august-1964-fourth-version-after-lost-original-of-november-1915
