As a consequence of the innovative thinking of Kurt Schwitters, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Robert Rauschenberg and others, the 20th century bore witness to the concept of found object as visual art becoming a mainstream European and American medium of artistic expression. Throughout the last century, and into this century, how an object is transformed into a collectible has impacted found objects and their availability to the arts community.
Found Object as Visual Art, Working Towards a Definition
A found object within the context of visual art may be defined as the artistic use of an object (usually but not exclusively man - made), which has not been created for a predominantly artistic purpose. It can be a toaster, a shoe, a car part, a beaded jacket, a comic book, a simple tool or a farm implement, a leaf or stone, a wrestler’s mask, a clump of clay, or a Coke bottle – empty or full.
One can designate three broad categories of found object which are then transformed into the realm of art:
- An object encountered by chance or sought out by design, for the purpose of using it essentially “as found,” to enhance the aesthetic environment of a home, an office, a store or other workplace environment, or a landscape. Of course it can be a featured artwork in an exposition (i.e. Duchamp’s seminal display of a ceramic urinal in 1917) which eventually finds its way into one of the three foregoing contextual environments or as a permanent gallery exhibit.
- An object or objects encountered by chance or sought out by design, and incorporated into a traditional piece of art such as an oil or watercolor, for the purpose of enhancing its overall aesthetics, or the imagery its author seeks to impart, or both (I.e. the comic style and collage, and death imagery of young Canadian artist Fiona Dunnett).
- Objects usually sought out by design for the purpose of employing them to create a specific art form, which may or may not include a utilitarian function (i.e. rusty horseshoes made into a wine rack or assorted polished metal parts [i.e. from autos] fashioned into a twirling ballerina).
The Transformation from Found Object to Collectible
When an object becomes a collectible, its acquisition price tends to increase exponentially. The first time someone saw a discarded or stored away pine foundry form, he probably picked it up for free or at a nominal charge (perhaps its value as firewood). After he took it home, and then cleaned and oiled it and put it on the wall in his den, he began using the found object as art; a piece of wood used to fabricate industrial metal, now adorning an upscale contemporary household.
Foundry forms became collectibles, offered for sale in antique stores and interior design galleries. Much in the same vein, old working wooden duck decoys have been transformed from utilitarian hunting paraphernalia into thousand dollar (and indeed much more) adornments of fireplace mantels; and wooden tongue and groove Canadian Butter and Southern Comfort boxes initially used to transport product from manufacturer to market, have become aesthetically pleasing receptacles to store kindling for those fireplaces.
These days one rarely picks up a foundry form, a decoy or an old wooden advertising box “for a song,” because each has been transformed into a class of collectible. In Canada and the United States, and it is suggested throughout most of the Western World, the chance encounter of a solitary found object as visual art is indeed becoming rare outside of the context of being offered for sale as art, folk art or otherwise for interior design purposes. Of course if one is in a developing nation, the same does not often hold true. Indeed, the garbage of a developing nation lay person is the treasure of a Westerner.
On the other hand, objects found for the purpose of either incorporating them into a traditional art form (magazine clippings, potsherds, shoe laces) or fabricating a piece of art using only that class of object (i.e. the ballerina), will be easily encountered for generations to come throughout the Western World – bought outright based on non – aesthetic value, scrounged on the street, or found in a junk yard and purchased by the pound.
The Future of the Transformation of Solitary Found Objects into Visual Art
As found objects become collectibles, their impact as pure art form diminishes. However, and this may be the only saving grace, not all solitary found objects are destined to become collectibles – not even into the 22nd century. When was the last time the owner of a collectibles and antiques store owner fielded the question, “Do you have any urinals?”
Alvin Starkman - Alvin Starkman runs Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast. He is a paid contributing writer for Mexico Today (http://www.mexicotoday.org).
