"In 1917, Marcel Duchamp turned a urinal on its head and called it art. With that, he earned his place in the canon as the great usurper of artistic norms, the enemy of yesteryear's tastemakers, the banisher of everything that came before him, and the godfather of art provocateurs."
"A century later, we've kissed our attention spans goodbye, welcomed microplastics into our bloodstreams, and surrendered authorship over almost everything to AI - from cake recipes to war target lists."
"Walking among the French-American artist's found urinals, bicycle wheels, snow shovels, and hat racks, I felt suddenly awash with mellow nostalgia."
"I noticed myself longing for those simpler times when 'eliminating the artist's hand' from art-making - what some have called 'deskilling' or 'de-arting' - was supposed to provide a pathway back to the true self."
Marcel Duchamp's 1917 urinal redefined art, positioning him as a revolutionary figure against traditional artistic norms. A retrospective at MoMA showcases around 300 works from his career, prompting reflections on the meaning of 'readymade' art today. The exhibition evokes nostalgia for a time when 'eliminating the artist's hand' was seen as a path to authenticity. In a world increasingly dominated by AI and consumerism, Duchamp's legacy raises questions about authorship and the essence of creativity in modern art.
Read at Hyperallergic
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