Verity: Duchamp

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp produced his readymade sculpture Fountain. The piece had been purchased from J. L. Mott Iron Works and was a urinal made by factory workers with the intention of being pissed in, and only by the purchase and display of it by Duchamp was it elevated to what is considered art. It could have lived a very different life, being peed in daily, and eventually shattered and forgotten. But through context created by an artist, it is now an important piece in the history of art. Is baby art art? This was a topic of debate during Transpozij. Who is a trans artist? How do we make trans art? The complex question drove us to question the very notion of art itself. Are paint splotches on paper by a baby with limited motor control art? Perhaps. Perhaps only through this discussion does the baby’s art become art. Nuri’s piece depicted on the opposite page is of a baby creating art. This “baby art” is clearly inspired by the art of true babies. Has Nuri’s choice to take inspiration from the work of babies created art that is “baby art”? Does the below illustration of me by my sister’s child constitute art? Or has it now only become art through my presentation of it? With this I leave the reader to contemplate.

- Verity