Taking the p*ss - Duchamp's Fountain

Regarding my first blog where I state that everything can be considered art if there is “thought” based in the origins. I need the emphasise on the “thought” as today’s blog could be considered contradictory of that.

Despite more and more being classed as “art”, from bin bags (Gavin Turk) to war (Sun Tzu) and gardens (Lucia H. Albers) there are certain people who exploit this. Art is considered either conceptual or aesthetic but can be either (Seurat, De Waal) ?

However, there are certain artists that exploit this, and due to having their name attached to said “art” they can then get away with anything.

Consider Duchamp’s “Fountain”; from something ultimately worthless, Duchamp made a great deal of money. Was this intentional? He signed the piece “R.Mutt” which apparently was for Richard Mutt (as per the exhibition label of 1917) and is French slang for “moneybags” and thus when juxtaposed with armut (poverty) is a topical financial paradox. Genius, or moronic?

I get scorned that my prices are so low and not considered a serious competitor in the art industry due to this. My art is everything from engine covers, walls, and canvases to clothes. I do it for love and not for money. What I do charge is merely to cover costs of time, materials and occasionally travel. On top of this, my prices are always negotiable.

Back to Duchamp. He may have been taking the p*ss (pun intended) however this single piece of art gave birth to a new era of “Arte Povera” which was to make art out of worthless objects. This can’t be bad, the modern day equivalent is now known as “up-cycling”. Not only this, but the entire piece started making people actually THINK about what IS art. Yeah, you could wipe your nose on a tea-towel and sell it as “art” but unless you have a name to go with it then it’s worth nothing more than a tea-towel with snot on it. Art has, therefore, been contorted into branding.

No matter how well you up-cycle, draw, paint or THINK. Unless you market your products efficiently then you are nothing more than someone with a useless skill.

Hello, Emily Jessica Hempstead!