Fountain, Marcel Duchamp (1917)

The fountain, by Duchamp, was created in an artistic movement known as the Dada movement; the Dada movement was anti-rational, and anti-aesthetics, forsaking previously conceived notions about life. The artist bought a standard urinal from the J. L. Mott Iron Works, reoriented it so that it was 90 degrees from its origin, and wrote “R. Mutt” and 1917 on its side. There was much controversy over Duchamp’s piece, over whether it was art or not, however, when an anonymous editorial came out defending The Fountain, many works after done in the Dada style were also considered art; the editorial read “Whether Mr Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object”. The Fountain is perhaps best known of all readymades because “the symbolic meaning of the toilet takes the conceptual challenge posed by the readymades to a visceral extreme”.

The Fountain is a great example of complexity among simplicity, due to its simple yet intriguing orientation and setting, and it cultural implications. Through his work, Duchamp tried to broadcast his perception of society, as it was about the catastrophic effects of war, and the rejection of all of the values that led to it . To say that The Fountain is symbolic yet simple would be an understatement. It is very open to interpretation, however, as Duchamp once said, “When I discovered the ready-mades I sought to discourage aesthetics. In Neo-Dada they have taken my readymades and found aesthetic beauty in them, I threw the bottle-rack and the urinal into their faces as a challenge and now they admire them for their aesthetic beauty”.