Marcel Duchamp Analysis

What is art?

Over the years many artists and art historians, such as Giorgio Vasari, Pablo Picasso, Paul Rand and Marcel Duchamp, have explored the definition of art. This essay will look at the opinions of these individuals and explore the concept of art by looking at various art movements, such as Dadaism and Cubism, which have influenced the definition of art, as we know it today. In this essay, I will also discuss the two elements of art; form and content, as well as how they are key to any discussion about what makes “good art” and “bad art”.

Throughout much of European history, art has been used either to portray religious stories and icons or to capture landscape, or a person’s image. Many have argued that art is simply a representation

Dadaist artist Marcel Duchamp has been quoted as saying “Dada was an extreme protest against the physical side of painting. It was a metaphysical attitude.” Dadaism focused more on the concepts displayed in artworks than their visual characteristics. Dadaism subverted conventional definitions of art, and was so radical that it managed to expand our views on what art is. Art has become so broadly defined that Marcel Duchamp can place a urinal in a museum, as an art installation, and it is still art. Because of this, it can be difficult to distinguish what exactly art is, and to draw the line between what is art, and what is not. Artists like Duchamp have expanded our views, so that art can now be found objects; not made, but chosen by an artist. This can be seen in his “Readymades”, which were everyday found objects, designed and displayed as art. He is quoted as arguing “An ordinary object (could be) elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist.” Marcels ‘Readymades’ challenged the idea that art has to be beautiful, and showed that art can be conceptual rather than solely

Simply put, form and content are two integral components to a work of art; form being the physical and visual elements (such as colour, composition, technique etc.) and content being the ideas behind the piece and what it is saying. I would argue that art could be defined simply as the combination of form and content, as this definition broadly encompasses any type of art and art movement. It can be noted that much of modern art has disassociated itself from the importance of form in order to focus almost exclusively on content. In recent decades, lots of art has become ugly, as more and more artists strive to express concepts rather than creating visually appealing art works. Whilst content is a key element of art, the importance of form cannot be underestimated. It is my opinion that good art is art that balances these two elements, art that is both intellectually stimulating and aesthetically pleasing. In the words of American Modernist Paul Rand “A work of art is realized when form and content are indistinguishable. When they are in synthesis. In other words, when they fuse. When form predominates, meaning is blunted… when content predominates, interest