"Of all the works in this series of ready-mades, Fountain is perhaps the best known because the symbolic meaning of the toilet takes the conceptual challenge posed by the ready-mades to their most visceral extreme." (Fountain) Fountain is a 1917 work attributed to Marcel Duchamp. It also has been considered as the first piece of so-called "conceptual art." The work was a porcelain urinal, which was signed "R.Mutt" and titled Fountain. Fountain was rejected by the committee, even though the rules stated that all works would be accepted from artists who paid the fee.
The Fountain was so controversial because the Fountain was originally manufactured to be a urinal, and it was considered, by society, to be too ugly and inappropriate for the standards of art at that time, and they therefore declined the work; however, Duchamp believes that an artist does not need to create a piece himself to have it be considered as an art piece. Even though many people still do not admit that Fountain is art, the work is regarded by some art historians and theorists of the avant-garde. Duchamp has been compared to Leonardo da Vinci, as a profound philosopher-artist. He told a New York newspaper that, "People took modern art very seriously when it first reached America because they believed we took ourselves very seriously. A great deal of modern art is meant to be amusing." (Rogue Urinals)
As we can see, in the postmodern era, art is already not a standard that should be agreed by everyone; instead it is a subjective concept that does not follow certain rules. The definition of art is relative to everyone. The question "how is it art" is more like an opinion, not a question that has one answer Each artist can have his or her own opinions about either the art pieces or the concepts. Artists can give their art works a unique art value or put their own perceptions into their works.
"Fountain(Duchamp)"Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 13/May/2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_(Duchamp)
"Rogue Urinals" The Economist,13/May/2013,http://www.economist.com/node/15766467
