Recontextualisation Essay

1446 Words6 Pages
Explain why artists use re-contextualisation when making art. In your answer refer to a range o examples.
Recontextualising is the process of extracting an original meaning and placing it in another context. Artists recontextualise for various reasons, some to provoke the audience, like Duchamp while others do it as a reaction towards their experiences, a good example are the Chinese Artists. Ai Wei Wei and Xu Bing are well known artists that recontextualise their artwork. Having gone through restrictive and difficult times during the Cultural Revolution, these artists that finally have their ‘freedom’ are creating artwork that challenges their traditions and the audiences’ experience.
Duchamp is a pivotal point of post modernism. Previously the art world mainly focused on aesthetic and photographic artworks. Recontextualising was a taboo before Duchamp stepped up and put a urinal on display at an exhibition claiming that it was art. His intention was a test for society, to question “what is art?” This is the well-known art piece called “Fountain, 1917”. There was a tremendous reaction towards his actions. Many disapproved and were horrified. Though it was considered controversial and inappropriate, it simultaneously extended the art world and people’s perception of art. “Fountain” was a symbol of the composition that was found in early religion. It appears to look like a veil over a woman’s head similar to the outline of Virgin Mary and it could also be interpreted as the outline of Buddha. The urinal then not only relates to the male gender but also connects to females as well.
Duchamp’s belief was that “because the artist chose the object to be art, it was, even though the artist did not physically manufacture it.” This statement was a step out of the comfort zone that society has been contained in. Artists gradually started to focus on the conceptual and

More about Recontextualisation Essay

Open Document