Readymades are closely associated with Dada and have been widely cited as foundational to later developments in conceptual art, Pop art, minimalism, and appropriation-based practices. Although readymades are commonly described as unmodified, mass-produced objects chosen with “visual indifference,” the art historian Rhonda Roland Shearer was first to publish forensic data of the readymades of Marcel Duchamp that proves the readymades may not be straightforward “off-the-shelf” items.
# Selected works
- *In Advance of the Broken Arm*. 1915.
- *Bicycle Wheel*. 1913.
- *Bottle Rack* (*Porte-bouteilles*). 1914.
- *Fountain (1917)*.
- *50 cc of Paris Air*. 1919.
- ''L.H.O.O.Q.''. 1919.
- *Fresh Widow*. 1920.
- *Why Not Sneeze, Rrose Sélavy?*. 1921.
# Conceptual Shifts and Language Drifts
Duchamp claims to have lost, discarded, or destroyed, the original readymades because they were so faithful to the original. As a result, documentation (photographs, notes, publication histories) are what remain.
# Background
Duchamp discussed perception as a series of instantaneous "cuts" in notes published in *The Green Box* (Boîte verte, 1934) and A l'infinitif (*The White Box, 1967*). These notes describe visual experience as discrete moments akin to cinematic frames or photographic exposures. This concept informs the readymade's identity as defined by precision over visual merchandising. Duchamp viewed the artist's choice an event and fixed its status as art in a series of actions that brought the object to its completion as an act of authorship culminating in perception.
# See also