The Readymade in Art and Life
In the context of a major survey of the work of Marcel Duchamp at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Peter Hill traces the enduring influence of the readymade, from the artist’s own provocations to contemporary practice, reflecting on how everyday objects transformed the course of modern and contemporary art.
Image credit: MARCEL DUCHAMP, Bottle Rack, 1961. (replica of 1914 original), galvanized iron, 59.4 × 54 cm. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Association Marcel Duchamp
In 1988, I had only a vague understanding of what a ‘readymade’ was. Or the importance of Marcel Duchamp to it, and to the whole Dada ‘anti-art’ movement. Dada spread across Europe from Switzerland in the wake of the First World War and its horrors. Then, as now, I worked quite deliberately, and happily, both as an artist and an art writer. Three consecutive Sydney Biennales would provide me with a thorough, sometimes conflicting, education on ‘the readymade’ and this period in art history that seemed to have great contemporary relevance. My guides on this journey were Biennale of Sydney directors Nick Waterlow (1988), Rene Block (1990), and Anthony Bond (1992), all of whose selections were plump with readymades.
In May 1988, armed with my camera, large tape recorder, press accreditation for London’s Artscribe magazine, and a heavy dose of jetlag, I explored Sydney through its various art venues. For me, the most exciting was the still-to-be-renovated Wharf 4/5 in Walsh Bay, stretching into the harbour like a long finger. It was temporary home to the art collective IRWIN from Slovenia, the visual arts wing of NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst), as well as the wonderful Ramingining Burial Poles from Arnhem Land and, at the far end, Hermann Nitsch, the black-clad and impressively bearded Viennese Aktionist. I caught up with him in the centre of his installation of seemingly blood-soaked shrouds, photographing him in situ, and all the while discussing his work. We went for lunch nearby where I should probably not have been surprised to learn he was a vegetarian. ... Subscribe to read all articles in full
