Terms from New Landscapes - Part Two

with curator, jefferson godard

It is my pleasure to follow with another theme from New Landscapes: the Readymade.

Readymade

The Readymade is a term that was coined by a group of artists who referred to themselves as Dadaists. They helped found the Dada movement in the early 20th Century and basically questioned what art should be and how it should be made.

So, what is a Readymade?

A Readymade refers to an artwork which is comprised of a prefabricated item. Meaning, an object which might have had a different use before has now been designated as ‘art.’ For example, what might have been a hat rack, stool, or bicycle wheel previously becomes an artwork (Marcel Duchamp Hat Rack or Bicycle Wheel).

Thinking of the Readymade, let’s shift our focus to three artworks in our current show New Landscapes. Considering this argument, Baguss’ use of commercially available wallpaper in Curtain is no longer simply wallpaper; Cowardin’s scaffolding employed in Drifting Unit #1 and #2 is now reassigned from its originally designed use; and Berghaus’ water bottles in Gentle Summer Rain are taken out of context from their normal place atop a water cooler.

The reason that the term Readymade is used in these examples is to get us thinking of how an artist can reassign value to an object. For these artists to employ a Readymade in their work, they are taking the viewer on a different path. Yet, while the artist is stretching our understanding of what art can be, it is ultimately up to the viewer to accept whether or not this transformation is enough. This is one of the most fascinating impacts of the Dadaists, they helped create a space for public discourse and art.

In many ways, the Dada movement were a punk rock, anti-establishment group that liberated the artworld from its classical art past.

Readings:

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/r/readymade

https://journal.hkw.de/en/the-readymade-century/

https://hyperallergic.com/161227/repainting-the-readymade/

https://www.art-critique.com/en/2020/04/the-readymade-and-its-place-in-art-history/