Marcel Duchamp is an artist who raised the question "what is art?" Duchamp's most well known piece is from 1917 named "Fountain," a manufactured urinal.
photo credit: http://www.beatmuseum.org/duchamp/images/fountain.jpg
In conceptual art, the idea is more important than the object. The idea is art. However, when Fountain was first put on display, there were mixed feelings about the piece. Some of the show organizers believed that Duchamp was equating modern art with a toilet fixture. Despite the criticisms, Fountain became the beginning of a new kind of art movement—conceptual art. Conceptual artists have emerged, like Yoko Ono, who not only create pieces of physical art, but also perform the art or have interactive art with the audience at an exhibition.
Art does not simply have to be paint on a canvas. The concepts and ideas that Yoko Ono wishes to express are evoked through the medium of performance and unconventional pieces. In Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece, the audience is invited to cut off pieces of Yoko Ono’s clothing. This piece is thought provoking and makes the audience experience oppression and gender roles in society. The performance is against racism and sexism.
photo credit: http://www.c4gallery.com/artist/database/janine-antoni/janine-antoni-loving-care-5-1993.jpg
Janine Antoni is a conceptual artist, and in her performance Loving Care, she uses hair dye to paint on the ground using her hair. This piece is about process. She uses her hair, moving her entire body across the floor, to create this piece.
Marcel Duchamp started the movement of conceptual art, beginning with Fountain, raising the question of “what is art?”
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