Marcel Duchamp The Fountain

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THEORY CRITICISM PAPER To start off, the subject of this paper is about Fountain by Marcel Duchamp and the dada movement, both of which have recieved much criticism. The term dada was invented in Zurich, Switzerland but the movement was not just in that particular area. Besides in Europe the movement made it overseas to New York. The goal was basically to reach total liberty socially, intellectually, and morally. Marcel Duchamp is seen as one of the leaders of the dada movement. The main subject that fueled the artists was World War 1 because of the carnage and injustice that went on. The artists were strongly against the war and the government that led them into the war. Dada art completely rejected the accepted standards of beauty in art. In fact dada can be considered the complete opposite of beauty and the fact that the artists considered their work art made people furious, especially with Marcel Duchamp's “Fountain”, causing several people to the act of attacking the art pieces. The main point of dada is to the shock the audience. George Heard Hamilton stated that Dada is “the most violent, disruptive, and controversial movement in twentieth-century art”. There was a slogan that went around that said “art is dead”. The rebellious members of Dada never came up with a clear program, and their goals were often ambiguous and sometimes contradictory. While they used art as a means to protest, they also questionedd the very validity of artistic production. So regarding the “Fountain”, this piece fits well with the dada movement. It is definitely not considered beautiful by anyone's standards as it is not intended to be that way. Marcel Duchamp thought that by entirely ignoring the function of an object, it actually creates art. This point is clearly proven with the fountain; never would a urinal taken from a bathroom be shown in an art gallery or
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