Marcel Duchamp's infamously inverted R. Mutt urinal has been attacked with a hammer - by a French conceptual artist called Pierre. Dada meets Dada. NYT.
"Mr. Pinoncelli, 77, who urinated into the same urinal and struck it with a hammer in a show in Nîmes in 1993, has a long record of organizing bizarre happenings. Police officials said he again called his action a work of art, a tribute to Duchamp and other Dada artists.
Indeed, "Fountain" itself was rejected for being neither original nor art when Duchamp offered it for the first exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in New York in 1917. That version of the urinal, displayed upside down and signed "R. Mutt," was subsequently lost. The Pompidou's "Fountain" is one of eight signed replicas made by Duchamp in 1964.
After the attack on Wednesday, Mr. Pinoncelli was held by the police overnight. He was released on Thursday and ordered to appear in court here on Jan. 24 to answer charges of damaging the property of others. As in 1993, he could face a prison term or a fine. (After the first urinal attack, he was jailed for a month and fined the equivalent of $37,500.)"
I just visited the exhibition and was wondering why the urinal was missing, especially as i had seen it this summer at the bing bang exhibition (one floor down from the dada exhibition at the Pompidou).
I totally dislike these kind of so called artists who are so busy being 'artistic', they don't realise on which planet they are on.
Besides the fact that his gesture is nothing but a publicity stunt, it has nothing to do with dadaism.
duchamp chose to paint the mona lisa a mustache, not to destroy it.
somebody should buy this guy an art history book.
I find it so sad and human that he would run back to perform the same stunt that gave him fifteen minutes of fame more than a decade ago. It's like a little child who makes the same silly face again and again when she sees it makes the adults laugh and applaud her. That said, I think Duchamp would have been kind, and applauded him twice.
it's weird 'cause duchamp tried to explain to the world that there is no more or less important piece of art. and now, his own work is mainstream and attacked just like mona lisa.
i also think this gesture was like a desperate attempt at 77 not to be forgotten.
i got over the subject but i just realised another sad side of the story: a man got with an hammer into a museum. it could have been anything other kind of weapon.
Jan 13, 06 2:36 pm ·
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"Mr. Pinoncelli, 77, who urinated into the same urinal and struck it with a hammer in a show in Nîmes in 1993, has a long record of organizing bizarre happenings. Police officials said he again called his action a work of art, a tribute to Duchamp and other Dada artists.
Indeed, "Fountain" itself was rejected for being neither original nor art when Duchamp offered it for the first exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in New York in 1917. That version of the urinal, displayed upside down and signed "R. Mutt," was subsequently lost. The Pompidou's "Fountain" is one of eight signed replicas made by Duchamp in 1964.
After the attack on Wednesday, Mr. Pinoncelli was held by the police overnight. He was released on Thursday and ordered to appear in court here on Jan. 24 to answer charges of damaging the property of others. As in 1993, he could face a prison term or a fine. (After the first urinal attack, he was jailed for a month and fined the equivalent of $37,500.)"
The dude also cut off part of his own pinkie with a hand-ax in California:
Look at that crazy face paint! He's crazy! What a crazy artist! He must be a Dadaist!
Crazy!
he is rather desperate for some attention/ publicity.
that makes him so not-dada.
I just visited the exhibition and was wondering why the urinal was missing, especially as i had seen it this summer at the bing bang exhibition (one floor down from the dada exhibition at the Pompidou).
I totally dislike these kind of so called artists who are so busy being 'artistic', they don't realise on which planet they are on.
Besides the fact that his gesture is nothing but a publicity stunt, it has nothing to do with dadaism.
duchamp chose to paint the mona lisa a mustache, not to destroy it.
somebody should buy this guy an art history book.
too bad he cut off his pinkie...now he has one less finger to suck while crying himself to sleep at night.
I find it so sad and human that he would run back to perform the same stunt that gave him fifteen minutes of fame more than a decade ago. It's like a little child who makes the same silly face again and again when she sees it makes the adults laugh and applaud her. That said, I think Duchamp would have been kind, and applauded him twice.
it's weird 'cause duchamp tried to explain to the world that there is no more or less important piece of art. and now, his own work is mainstream and attacked just like mona lisa.
i also think this gesture was like a desperate attempt at 77 not to be forgotten.
i got over the subject but i just realised another sad side of the story: a man got with an hammer into a museum. it could have been anything other kind of weapon.
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