Artists Challenge the Traditional Notions of Artmaking

“Artists often challenge established notions of what art should be.”

The introduction of found objects and readymades in the art world denounced the established notions of what art should be and the artist’s role in creating it. Artists including Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Ai Wei Wei all utilised found objects in their artworks, creating conceptually dynamic and engaging pieces that shocked audiences and critics alike.

French artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) is a pioneer of the Dada, anti-art movement and popularised the ready-made art practice. The appropriation of found objects and changing the definition of mundane objects revolutionised what it means to create art and changed the role of artists in the artmaking process. He explained. Having had his first readymade, a urinal named “Fountain” and signed ‘R.Mutt’, denied by a public art exhibition, Duchamp continued to challenge the art world and the originality of art pieces. “I wanted to get away from the stink of artist’s egos.” He explained. His elimination of the individual, handmade quality of art and provocative gestures would prove a major influence to future artists.

Duchamp’s readymade artworks solidified his place in the art world as it took “an ordinary object and elevated it to the dignity of a work of by the choice of an artist”. His sculpture “Bicycle Wheel” made in 1913 combined a bicycle rim mounted onto a wooden stool. Audiences considered it soothing and comforting to look. “Bottle Rack” made the following year was composed of a bottle rack with 5 tiers and 50 projecting spokes. “Bottle Rack” is an unassisted readymade that Duchamp allegedly threw out once he began to find it aesthetically pleasing. His 1915 artwork “In Advance of a Broken Arm” was a snow shovel purchased from a hardware store which Duchamp engraved and signed. Through these ready-mades Duchamp questioned the necessity of uniqueness and originality and discouraged aesthetics in art.

Pop Art, also known as Neo-Dada, artist Andy Warhol exploited society’s obsession with celebrity and consumerism to create vibrant artworks. Born in 1928 in Pittsburgh, Warhol grew up in a low income household idolising Hollywood stars and the culture that surrounded them. His passion for pop culture is translated into his artworks, with strong influences from the Dada movement. Warhol’s replicas of everyday objects such as the Brillo soap pads boxes took everyday objects and turned them into artworks that reflected consumerism in the modern society. Warhol’s employment of assistants to help him create the numerous silkscreens and artworks he created confronted the established notions of artmaking.

Warhol’s infamous “Marilyn Monroe Diptych” screen-prints of the 1960’s launched him into the art world and gained following for the Pop Art movement. While Pop Art was initially met with much criticism, some claiming that it “…seems on the whole to leave aside the basic questions and values of art.”, the images of iconic celebrities quickly gained popularity. The 1964 art installation “Brillo Boxes” saw Warhol take an everyday object, replicate it exactly, and display it as art for the world to see. Many posed the question, is this art, and divided the art world again years after Duchamp first created a readymade. Warhol’s artmaking practices and the objects of his artworks reflect Pop and what it meant to society, “Once you ‘got’ Pop, you could never see a sign the same way again. And once you thought Pop, you could never see America the same way again”.

Contemporary artist Ai Wei Wei has played a critical role in the art world, especially in China, promoting cultural value and heritage in art. His diverse art practice variety of mediums are based on using readymades and the concept behind them. His art resonated with personal experiences and the corporate structures that undermine the freedom and integrity of cultural life in China. Wei Wei’s political values and beliefs have caused much controversy in China, leading to his false imprisonment in 2011 under the pretence of tax evasion. “I grew up in a society with so much injustice that it is very difficult for artists like me … It is not about the necessity of expression but the necessity of surviving…” he explains. Having lived in New York during the 1980’s, Wei Wei draws inspiration from the Pop and Dada art movements, combined with traditional Chinese artworks.