That's Art?

My brother will find something on the street, on the subway, under a couch, in a restaurant booth or any other random location you can think of, bring it home, clean it (sometimes) and create “art” out of it.

Some of the pieces he currently has, as named by me, are:

Ridiculous Rubber Man in Glass
Absurd Mouse in a Pipe
Red & Black Geez-us
Ludicrous GI Bear

I wouldn’t describe him as a pack rat necessarily. He doesn’t keep the stuff because he thinks it may have some use in the future or for sentimental reasons. He keeps it for its dubious aesthetic value. By the way, have you ever helped a pack rat move? If so than I’m sure you’ll agree with me that these people should be repeatedly beaten using some of the worthless items they’ve made you carry. If you want to clutter your apartment with absolutely useless crap, that’s your choice but don’t make me move empty paint cans and broken cinder blocks to your new apartment. And while I’m on the subject of pack rats and moving why don’t pack rats pack. I’ve been to places where it looked like the move was a surprise to the residents. Do you really think it’s necessary to start that 5000 piece World’s Hardest and Largest Jigsaw Puzzle right now? How about putting your stuff in boxes and marking it fragile instead of throwing your priceless collection of Bay City Roller glasses circa. 1974 available exclusively from K-Mart in a garbage bag and telling me to “be careful, they’re irreplaceable.”

Back to my brother’s art. The problem is he’s right. Thanks to Marcel Duchamp they are pieces of art.

In 1917 Duchamp, a French artist, entered a urinal into an art exhibit and titled it Fountain. He signed the urinal R. Mutt. In 2004 Fountain was named the most influential modern artwork of all time. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4059997.stm

I’m not disputing that it is the most influential modern artwork of all time. It may very well be. It certainly caused a stir in 1917 and reputedly broke barriers between high art and low art. Its purpose, at least partially, was to liberate the art world of its pretension. Good job Duchamp. Here’s an extremely pretentious quote explaining the meaning of Fountain:

However, "a urinal elevated to the level of a work of art cannot, under any circumstances, be considered as something 'neutral'" Ramirez also offers a highly sexual interpretation of the piece. Because it embodies characteristics of both sexes, he argues that the urinal is neither masculine nor feminine, but "bisexual". Despite its obvious male connections, it also has feminine aspects; it acts as "a receptacle for liquid effusions of different kinds: showers, natural waterfalls, perfumes, etc". Others also support this gendered bisexual interpretation. Greben notes the bisexual nature of Fountain when she writes that: Duchamp "wittily positioned the phallic receptacle on its side to suggest female genitalia”. http://arthist.binghamton.edu/duchamp/fountain.html

Hmm, I wonder if he actually placed it on its side because the bottom is rounded and it’s very difficult to balance that way. Come to think of it the urinal is actually placed on its back. Clearly this says something about the male position of control during intercourse while the powerless woman lies on her back. There’s probably something about golden showers in there too but I’m no art critic.

Duchamp’s goal of breaking down barriers between high and low art was achieved and now everything is considered art. The winner of the 2001 Turner Prize (a prestigious art award) was Martin Creed. Here is a description of his prize winning entry:

For the Turner Prize exhibition, Creed has decided to show Work # 227: The lights going on and off. Nothing is added to the space and nothing is taken away, but at intervals of five seconds the gallery is filled with light and then subsequently thrown into darkness.

This happens in my apartment everyday.

The prize money at the time was £20,000 (over $40,000 CAD). In 1997 a replica Fountain (the original having been long lost) sold for $1,762,500. If everything is art how come when I flick the lights on and off at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) I’m escorted out?

If any one is interested in purchasing some of my brother’s art the bidding starts at $25,000.
For more information on artsy urinals please see www.urinal.net.