Farley Lewis

In 1917 Marcel Duchamp submitted a porcelain urinal to a New York art exhibit. This remarkable work of art, disguised as a common toilet, started a rage among enthusiastic young artists. They called his art Dada (French for dad), because Duchamp was seen as the father of this movement. Art critics have fallen into two camps on Duchamp’s motive behind the urinal art, which is fascinating, because “Duchamp” is the French word for “two camps.” I love this stuff!  

One camp contended that Duchamp was saying, “There is beauty in everything, even toilets and urinals, but you have to be a professional artist or art critic or university art professor or state-sponsored art museum curator to see it.” Others believed he was saying, “Art is whatever I say it is, since I’m the leader of this new movement, and I say we should flush beauty and let professionals decide what is art and what is not.” Or, in today’s vernacular, “Don’t try this at home, this work was done by highly trained professionals.” Which isn’t exactly true, since Duchamp didn’t make the urinal, but it is quite possible that he used it, which would indicate a certain familiarity with this particular urinal, giving him the insight to say, “Yup, this is art.”

But either way, the professionals won the day. The challenging task of deciding what is good art remained with the pros. Imagine the chaos of a world where common people could decide for themselves what they find beautiful.

Those who followed suit and presented toilets as art – of which there were several – also deserve a gold star, if you will, especially one artist who, in a stroke of artistic genius, painted his toilet gold. Regardless of the motive, one thing is certain – Duchamp’s urinal woke up the general public to the beauty of toilets. Or, it woke them up to the need to dispel with beauty, depending on which camp you’re in. Either way, art took a giant leap forward.

But over time the shock value of toilets wore off, and other astute artists stepped up to the john. They said, “Toilets are cool and all, but what if we displayed the stuff you find in toilets?” This soon became the new rage, and the fragrance of this trend can still be enjoyed today in museums around the country. One innovative artist displayed elephant dung with torn pieces from porn magazines stuck in it (I’m not making this up), perhaps in an effort  to once more wake up the public and get them to see that there is beauty in everything. Or, that beauty is an antiquated relic of the past, depending on your camp.

I’m waiting for an artist to recognize the beauty in the “urinal troughs” found in baseball stadiums. Not only do they boast a sleek, modern look, but they help guys overcome the awkward silence in men’s restrooms, thus serving a beautiful social function as well. Unlike women, who use restrooms like a meet and greet. I personally think urinal troughs may become the next hot trend in art. But to you emerging artists, remember: Whoever does it first gets the most gold stars.

On a personal note, I find it sexist and offensive that these beautiful water sculptures cannot at present be enjoyed by women. But thanks to progressive institutions like Target, that too may be changing.

Interestingly, Duchamp called his readymade pieces of art “anti-art,” which means “against art.” I think he was prophetic.