How can a urinal be the best work of art of the century?
They did not say it was the best artwork; they did not even say it was good. They said it was the most influential.
Duchamp’s success set the rules for modern art:
- Quality does not matter. What matters is influence.
- Art requires no skill, no craft, no talent, no hard work.
- The art history of Western civilization should be ignored.
- Above all, cause an outrage. Be controversial.
- The artist does not necessarily have to actually make any art. Duchamp did not make the urinal – it was a mass-produced, manufactured item that he found.
- The job of the artist is to have an idea. He had the idea of declaring a urinal to be art. He outsourced the actual work, but he had the concept.
- Ugly is better than beautiful.
- You can get away with it if you keep a straight face.
- The word “artist” is sometimes preceded by the word “con.”
- The next item always has to be more outrageous than the last.
The success of Duchamp’s urinal liberated artists from tedious constraints, such as talent, skill, and work. Once urinal art was accepted, nothing could be refused. Duchamp was a visionary – he saw the future, and it stank.
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