This film is my version of Marcel Duchamp 1917, Fountain, a readymade porcelain urinal signed "R.Mutt".
In April 1917, Fountain was submitted to the Society of Independent Artists, for an exhibition at The Grand Central Palace, New York.
"R. Mutt", sounds like German "Armut" (meaning "poverty") in the context of the exhibition, intellectual poverty. Or "Urmutter" (meaning “great mother”). R. Mutt could refer to the commercial origins; comic strip of the time, Mutt and Jeff (making the urinal perhaps the first work of art based on a comic).
Duchamp said the R stood for Richard, French slang for "moneybags", which makes Fountain a kind of scatological golden calf. On 11 April 1917, Duchamp wrote to his sister Suzanne and said that, "One of my female friends who had adopted the pseudonym Richard Mutt sent me a porcelain urinal as a sculpture; since there was nothing indecent about it, there was no reason to reject it."
Well-known figure on the New York avant garde art scene and long-forgotten pioneering feminist, performance artist, poet and sculptor, Baroness Elsa was an associate of Marcel Duchamp, she lived art, her work made no sense at all, perhaps, too far ahead of her time.
My readymade art piece is called ‘MUG’. A commercial and comical take on the art produce by the artist ‘the Commoner’ increases in value intrinsically by the wealthy, thus the elite dictate worth, plutocracy and even ownership.
Fountain is symbolic of the toilet, demonstrated the most visceral extreme. Philosopher Stephen Hicks argued that Duchamp, who was familiar with the history of European art, and Duchamp was making a provocative statement.
Noted, "An unparalleled example of timing in which the burgeoning interest in Duchamp coincided with exhilarating developments in avant-garde art, virtually all of which exhibited links of some sort to Duchamp." - Camfield, William A. (1989). Marcel Duchamp, Fountain. Houston, TX: Houston Fine Art Press. pp. 23, 183. ISBN 0939594102.
His art was transformed from "a minor, aberrant phenomenon in the history of modern art to the most dynamic force in contemporary art” - David M. Lubin, Grand Illusions: American Art and the First World War, Oxford University Press, 2016, ISBN 0190218622
My artpiece the MUG is a statement, a common used item for drinking hot beverages, such as coffee or tea. A mug is a less formal style of drink container.
The label I designed and decels onto the Ceramic say’s: la digne roturier règle aveugle veneur
Meaning: worthy commoner rule blind huntsman Worthy commoner is my testimonial that the artist work is invaluable, governed by the rich, (moneybags). The logo in the centre is Dukedom of Westminster. The first holder was Sir Richard Grosvenor, 1st Baronet (1584–1645) an MP. Grosvenor is derived from Hugh Le Grand Veneur, a member of a Norman French family that aided William the Conqueror in 1066. "Le Grand Veneur" literally means "the Master Huntsman"
The reason why I used this logo is because the Duke of Westminster owns most the land in London. London has the most NPO funding, subsequently the arts is accessed by the privileged.
The mug is also one of the most popular examples of homeomorphism in topology.
The ‘Cup’ is also described as Holy Grail in Arthurian literature with miraculous powers that provide happiness, eternal youth or sustenance in infinite abundance, often in the custody of the Fisher King. The term "holy grail" is often used to denote an elusive object or goal that is sought after for its great significance.