RT Article
T1 The Readymade as Social Exchange: Everyday Tactics of Resistance in Conceptual Art
JF Religions
VO 13
IS 11
A1 Aghajanian, Arthur
LA English
PB MDPI
YR 2022
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1821408551
AB Ever since Marcel Duchamp introduced the readymade, the mass-produced object has played a key role in modern and contemporary art. As commodity culture became increasingly dominant in the decades following the second world war, artists turned to the readymade in the context of two movements that continue to be influential for the art of today: Pop art and Conceptual art. In the work of many contemporary artists, we have witnessed the tendency—inspired by Pop art’s engagement with consumer culture, to heighten the fetishistic nature of the commodity image. Conversely, many artists, influenced by Conceptualism’s methods of relocating and redefining aesthetics, have employed the readymade as a device to explore how objects mediate relationships within specific cultural contexts. This essay examines the implications of both paradigms using the theology of Michel de Certeau as a point of reference. The framework of mystical Christianity found in de Certeau’s writing, particularly with regard to his theory of “everyday practices”, provides a rich interpretation of the work of John Knight and Gabriel Orozco. The conceptual practices of both artists, particularly in the examples studied here, suggest deeper spiritual themes, and demonstrate the applicability of Christian ethics to readings of contemporary art.
K1 christian mysticism
K1 the practice of everyday life
K1 Michel De Certeau
K1 Gabriel Orozco
K1 John Knight
K1 Conceptual Art
K1 pop art
K1 readymade
K1 Marcel Duchamp
DO 10.3390/rel13111078