Arp 'Collage with Squares Arranged According to th
Description
Grey construction paper, blue and cream squares scattered on surface
Tore up paper and scattered, technically had no control, but other designs have lines/contours
'Random' but still has harmony/ balance as no squares overlap
Context
Began with wife Sophie to experiment with accident, drew same everyday till hand varid
'Complete devotion to unconscience'- anti-art, no artistic skill/ decision
Cubist papier colle influences
Links to war with laws of chance of who got called up/ died etc.
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Picabia 'Fig Leaf' (1922)
Description
Correctly drawn silhouette of a man in enamel paint on canvas
Uneven surface, painted over Hot Eyes (1921)- scandal at Salon de Autumne
Ironic comment on censorship, fig leaf draws attention to genitals, 'French Drawing'- attack of French art establishment
Context
1922 2/3 works rejected from Salon Independants, trying to gain attention with controversality
Fig leaf- censorship in art world, correctly drawn silhouette reference to conservatism
1920 Louvre re-opened, same position as Oedipus and the Sphinx, wrong leg bent so genitals on display, also shown in 'Spanish Night'- circles over breasts
Elongated nose and lip reference to Commedia del Arte- Italian tradition
Bad reception, most critics ignored, other said it was dull and unamusing
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Duchamp 'The Fountain' (1917)
Description
Porcelain urinal, turned on side, signed R. Mutt, dated 1917, manufactured object as art
Context
Duchamp leader of Avant Garde in NY, didn't like organisation of art world, Dada as anti-art
Urinal from Motte Iron Words- links to pseudonym, also ref. to low art Mutte and Jeff cartoons, mutt slang for dog, R short for Richard meaning money bags
Testing subjectivity of art, dismissed from Salon des Independants for being indecent
Reception
Bellows: 'it is gross, offensive, there is such a thing as decency', 'no means a work of art'
'Taking the ****' of art, removes function by turning on side, viewer as a urniating male
Norton: 'its lines recall classical Buddhas or the legs of Cezanne's nudes'
Woods: 'a beautiful, white enamel oval, gleaming triumphantly'
Rejects skill/ position of artists, anyone can be one as someone made urinal
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