The story behind Duchamp’s (stolen) “Fountain.”
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Notes
Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (“the original punk artist”) bought the urinal that Duchamp then entered into an art exhibit. “Fountain” marks a shift in art— “In some ways, it was the end of fine art as a craft.”
Though Duchamp took more credit over the years (an unforgivable theft), Freytag-Loringhoven continued to live a life of passion and consistency, “committed to her practice”: painting, pioneering performance art, exploring the “penumbra, the spots just outside of the existing wisdom.”
Thoughts
I’d heard this story before (I think Seth told the story on his podcast as a clarification to an earlier episode, after a listener corrected him for uncritically attributing “Fountain” to Duchamp). Though my knowledge of art history isn’t deep, it’s my understanding that “Fountain” really was a turning point in art, and I’m pleased both to know that it was a woman’s idea, and to know that she’s finally getting credit for it.
It really is an example of how the practice (how she devoted her whole life) can be separate from the outcome—both the immediate outcome (the power of a famous name in the art world) and the longer term outcome (Duchamp stealing credit for the work).
(I also had to look up the word “penumbra.” I’ve heard it or seen it before, but realized I had no idea what it meant… It’s that blurry outline at the edge of a shadow cast by an opaque object—a solid metaphor for art that is pushes and explores boundaries.)
This series is meant to capture my thoughts as I work through Seth Godin’s The Practice. It’s a book with over 200 (very short) chapters, which I hope to work through and, I further hope, to implement over time.
If you’re interested in more of Godin’s ideas, or my thoughts about them, you can check out this collection of posts. Note that if you’re more interested in the former, you should probably get Godin’s book and read it yourself; my notes will be both incomplete and idiosyncratic, and my thoughts will relate to my own experience.
But if my thoughts resonate with you, or if you think I’m just silly, I welcome your comments.