Fountain, Marcel Duchamp (1917)

Marcel Duchamp was a French artist who lived in World War I. “Trained as a painter, Marcel Duchamp made a radical break with traditional art by inventing the ‘readymade,’ a pre-existing, industrially produced object” (Comenas). “Fountain” was one of the “readymades.” It was created in 1917 when Duchamp was asked to send his artwork to an exhibition. Then Duchamp sent a urinal named Fountain as his artwork. Fountain “caused considerable controversy when he submitted it for exhibition at the Society of Independent Artists exhibition of 1917” (SFMOMA).  Even though it was hidden in the corner during the show, it still caused a sensation at the time. It still has a great impact on art today. “When, in 2004, five hundred art experts were asked to name the most influential modern art work of all time, they chose Duchamp's Fountain” (SFMOMA)

Fountain is essentially a urinal. With Duchamp’s signature on it, the fountain stands for a new kind of modern art. The hole in the front of the urinal looks like the muzzle of a gun where bullets can fire out at any time. Additionally, the hole is right in the middle of the urinal making it look as if the gun is pointing at the people who are looking at the sculpture. It seems like Duchamp is trying to use the urinal to terrify and warn people about the volatility of violence. Duchamp used a urinal to represent his artwork and as an outlet to express his disillusionment of society with its wars and violence. He mockingly used a urinal as art to illustrate his disgust for the pretentious society around the time of the Roaring 20s where the rich lived pretentious lives while the poor were exploited by the unethical businessmen. He was mocking the violent society that was full of wars. Additionally, by merely taking a urinal and signing his name to claim it as art, he was openly mocking how people interpret art.  It was a bold and daring step away from traditional art into the modern, industrialized world.