The Ultimate Dada Disciple

joe phelan · January 7th, 2006, 03:48 PM

According to Alan Riding writing in today's New York Times, a French performance artist named Pierre Pinoncelli took a small hammer to Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" the factory made urinal which is considered the cornerstone of conceptual art.

The police arrested Pierre for vandalism but he says his act was itself a work of art and a tribute to Duchamp and the other Dada artists.

The work was on display as part of the big "Dada" exhibit which is currently at the Pompidou Center in Paris and will travel to Washington and New York this year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/ar...gewanted=print

January 21st, 2006, 11:54 PM

I think the idea that Duchamp was trying to get accross when he "created" Urinal was that the context of where the piece was placed is essential to its definition as art. That anything can be art, and any process if the artist decides it to be. In this vein, the "vandalism" is entirely logical because the artist is deconstructing the notion of art as fixed and unchanging while bringing the act of destruction into the vocabulary of art. However, it doesn't strike me as fair to vandalize old master works because those subscribe to an entirely different set of values.

John · January 22nd, 2006, 12:22 AM

Here's a link to the same article at The Scotsman (Glasgow), which is free:
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=27002006

This kind of reminds me of those Chinese artists who jumped onto Tracey Emin's "Bed" and had a pillow fight. But at least that incident was somewhat witty and harmless, and could even be said to be a kind of commentary on that particular work. Pinoncelli sounds innately monomaniacal, a jackass who's main goal is to bask in the reflected light of the masters whose works he takes a hammer to.

ozric9 · 03:51 AM

January 7th, 2006, 03:48 PM	#1
joe phelan Editor Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 55	The Ultimate Dada Disciple According to Alan Riding writing in today's New York Times, a French performance artist named Pierre Pinoncelli took a small hammer to Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" the factory made urinal which is considered the cornerstone of conceptual art. The police arrested Pierre for vandalism but he says his act was itself a work of art and a tribute to Duchamp and the other Dada artists. The work was on display as part of the big "Dada" exhibit which is currently at the Pompidou Center in Paris and will travel to Washington and New York this year. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/ar...gewanted=print

January 21st, 2006, 11:54 PM	#2
Chanyartist Posts: n/a	Vandalism or Art? I think the idea that Duchamp was trying to get accross when he "created" Urinal was that the context of where the piece was placed is essential to its definition as art. That anything can be art, and any process if the artist decides it to be. In this vein, the "vandalism" is entirely logical because the artist is deconstructing the notion of art as fixed and unchanging while bringing the act of destruction into the vocabulary of art. However, it doesn't strike me as fair to vandalize old master works because those subscribe to an entirely different set of values.

January 22nd, 2006, 04:29 AM	#4
ozric9 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 14	. Last edited by ozric9 : November 19th, 2006 at 03:51 AM.

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January 22nd, 2006, 12:22 AM	#3
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 165	Here's a link to the same article at The Scotsman (Glasgow), which is free: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=27002006 This kind of reminds me of those Chinese artists who jumped onto Tracey Emin's "Bed" and had a pillow fight. But at least that incident was somewhat witty and harmless, and could even be said to be a kind of commentary on that particular work. Pinoncelli sounds innately monomaniacal, a jackass who's main goal is to bask in the reflected light of the masters whose works he takes a hammer to.