Scoping an Audience Response

Marcel Duchamp's urinal is an example of a radical innovation that began the fascination of Concept Art. In 1917, Duchamp bought a porcelain urinal, painted "Richard Mutt" on the sides, sat it on a pedestal and entered it in as a sculpture to the New York Society of Independent Artists. The toilet wasn't accepted in the exhibition, but the idea behind the toilet as art grew passionately from his display. It may not be as enlightening or effervescent as Thomas Kinkade's impressionistic works, but it holds value as a radical innovation because it had bewildered and upset Duchamp's contemporaries, and continues to be of much debate in constituting what makes art. Duchamp's actions have created an entirely new era in art. Photographed porcelain toilets are becoming cliches. In some respect, the concept of Concept Art is becoming a cliche. If art is of the object itself, than why should we have to constitute it as art? Wouldn't everything already be art? The audacity of Duchamp has created a culture of pop art that continues to press the standards when deciding what should be called art.

The kind of person who would rather be excluded from Kinkade's admiring audience is someone with a darker view on humanity. He or she would not view the world in an effervescent glow. They would be far more realistic in knowing and believing that life is hard and full of struggle, dismal and gray. The types of art they admire may provoke a sense of realism, dread, fear, fall of humanity, death (Ruben, Carravaggio, Sally Mann, Kara Walker). They might prefer contemporary artists who work with portraits or stories, allegories, themes and fiction to provoke feelings of uneasiness and discourse (Kehinde Wiley, Richard Avedon, Tina Mion, Alex Melamid).