Oct 12–13, 2017
The Readymade Century
International Symposium
Oct 12–13, 2017
English with simultaneous translation into German
Does the term readymade taken by Marcel Duchamp around 1916 for his ‘already made’ works of art need updating in the light of the global and digital transformations of the 21st century? Interpretations of the readymade in art history often concentrate on Duchamp himself. However, during the “readymade century” artistic practices working with the ‘already made’ have expanded enormously, forming a heterogeneous field of (post-)appropriation strategies.
One hundred years after Duchamp’s (in)famous Fountain (1917) the focus of the symposium is the contemporary readymade. By integrating perspectives of cultural theory and artistic research, The Readymade Century will examine the concept in terms of the circulation of goods in the age of globalization, of on-demand or just-in-time production and new conflict zones regarding intellectual property. In doing so, it ties into the radical nature of Duchamp’s gesture and relocates it against the backdrop of current aesthetic possibilities in a postindustrial and postdigital present. The symposium takes on an intercultural perspective, considering the status of ethnological objects that are removed from their everyday utility value and are given exhibition value as unique items.
In the panels art historians, theorists, and artists open up the dialogue between theoretical research and artistic practice:
- Readymade after the Readymade
Lars Blunck / Saâdane Afif / Thomas Girst / Annette Tietenberg - Readymade Product
Martha Buskirk / Olaf Nicolai / Tobias Vogt / Gesine Tosin - Readymade Transcultural
Benjamin Meyer-Krahmer / Kader Attia / Annette Bhagwati / Margareta von Oswald - Readymade (Post-)Digital
Katja Kwastek / Oliver Laric / Matthew Plummer-Fernandez / Inke Arns - Readymade Market
Sven Lütticken / Simon Denny / Sebastian Egenhofer / Isabelle Graw - Readymade in situ
FAMED / Dieter Daniels
Curated by Dieter Daniels
in collaboration with Annette Bhagwati
Part of 100 Years of Now
