Marcel Duchamp- The fountain

Is the fountain a practical joke that caused an artistic revolution?

Duchamp and his friends went to a plumbing suppliers called JL Mott ironworks after lunch one day, once there Duchamp purchased a urinal and once returning to his studio he turned it on its side and signed it by the imaginary "R.Mutt 1917"- Somehow this was the moment when one of the most influential artworks of the 20th century was created, entitled "fountain".

Although in its own right, 'fountain' is indeed eye catching and actually rather beautiful because of its smooth texture and its shape, it was also a brilliant logical move, smashing every single conventional idea about art at the time and also simply being just a urinal with pen on it...

Duchamp has before been compared to the likes of Leonardo DaVinci in the past and has always valued humour, he told one New York news paper that "people took modern art very seriously when it first reached america because they believed we took ourselves too seriously. A great deal of modern art is meant to be amusing" this has made me think about my practice and how it's always so serious and bland feeling, I want to create something a little different to what I usually would do and come out of my shell a little bit.

The context for the purchase & naming of the fountain was a worthy exhibition by the society of independant artists, formed on the model of the Parisian 'salon des independants', To show works by anyone, subject to a fee of $1 for membership and $5 anual dues. Duchamp himself was on the board, as were various prominent american painters and art world figures. However, from early on, Duchamp seemed tempted to subvert the whole enterprize. He suggested that the work in the new york exhibition should be hung alphabetically, with the first letter to be drawn out of a hat. The idea was taken on but Duchamp wasnt fully content. Adding more, Duchamp submitted the fountain accompanied by the none existent R.mutts $6 fee and invented a fake adress in philledelphia. It was a 'perfectly placed missile, aimed at the basis of the exhibition- its democratic open admission'. An unmentionable object, a "bathroom appliance"- as the press reports called it..

It was signed, it was dated, but was it art?

It is said that "Duchamp took this article of life and placed it so that its useful significance dissapeared under the new title& point of view- and he created a new thought for that object" It was this publication as well as the scandal that made 'the fountain' famous.

I believe that the fountain is art, it pushed boundaries and changed the way we see things, which is what all great art does right? It completely questions traditional methods and gets a reaction. Nobody actually knows what happened to the original fountain... the best guess is that it was thrown out because somebody thought it was rubbish, which unfortunately a common fate of his work.. i feel like duchamp would have loved the irony in that though, as it was entirely his point.

When i first seen this piece i wasnt sure if i liked it or not because at a first glance, it really is just a urinal.. after reading about the piece and researching it some more, I have grew to like this "bathroom appliance" because i adore the way it challenged peoples views, and changed the way we see things, I feel like it was well ahead of its time for an idea.. the way that it was just a big "fuck you"to the art world and managed to change it was absolutely brilliant as it gives everyone a chance to create art, regardless of their drawing skills.