Photo Of The Day

Duchamp's Fountain was an avant garde statement putting forwards the idea that anything, no matter how ordinary or menial, can be considered art once it has received the attention of an artist i.e. through a signature and/or a new meaning attributed to it. It caused a huge stir because it was barred from being exhibited from the show it was entered into because the curators couldn't decide whether it was art or not. It is now considered one of the first prominent examples of conceptual art, and Duchamp was the original creator of the 'readymade' art piece, and the reason that unmade beds can be nominated for Turner Prizes.

going back a few pages, but it's a commonly held misbeief (right word?) that duchamp had originally intended to show the urinal at the aforementioned exhibition. the urinal was actually put in as a protest against them not allowing him to show another work he had originally intended to show. the original no longer exists, and i believe there a 3 replicas made by duchamp. But yes, like you said it was an incredibly important action for conceptual art that has come since, but in my opinion the legacy of duchamp has been highly abused by the likes of the YBAs (the mass editioning of Hirst's work for example) into something that he would no longer recognise as being related to his work or ideas. I think saying all contemporary art is rubbish having seen what is reported in the media, maybe a couple of exhibitions, is like saying all fixed gears are ugly having seen a few around town. it takes time and effort but i think it's genuinely worth it, but if it's not your cup of tea then fair enough, it's not for everyone.