The Found Object in Art

11/18/2019

Research by Hannah Whitaker Fall 2019

The found object is a device used by many artisits in contemporary works. In 2019 it is common that an artisits may sprawl the streets with eyes peeled for that perfect piece of garbage to turn in to a new piece. As defined by The Tate museum a found object is "a natural or man-made object, or fragment of an object, that is found (or sometimes bought) by an artist and kept because of some intrinsic interest the artist sees in it."

While the use of found objects is relatively common in the modern art world it wasn't until after World War 1 that these objects started filling that role. "Suffering a deep malaise...artists sought to break out of traditional or historical modes of creating art, they searched for new ways to innovate by delving into every aspect of their culture and compelling new thought."(Cunha-Lewin) From this philosophy of thought came "readymade" art. Many artisits of this time were throwing out processes originally deemed as proper for something that spoke to them and their concept. The Readymade functioned in this way as "artists choose ordinary found objects from everyday life, and repositioned them as works of art so that their original significance disappeared in light of sparking new points of view."(Cunha-Lewin) This pushed artisits outside of their comfort zone of technique and paved the way for Conceptual art, which emphasized the importance of developing and presenting ideas over a finished "fine-art" piece.

Occasionally these objects might not be modified, making the act of presenting the object the art itself, hence the term Readymade. Otherwise, it is common for these objects, or portions of the object to serve as parts of a new whole. These kinds of works are often sculptural and known as "assemblages". "Assemblage is art that is made by assembling disparate elements – often everyday objects – scavenged by the artist...The use of assemblage as an approach to making art goes back to Pablo Picasso’s cubist constructions...An early example is his "Still Life" 1914 which is made from scraps of wood and a length of tablecloth fringing, glued together and painted."(Tate) Interested in the opportunities provided by juxtaposition assemblage became a very effective way of working for many early surrealist,or neo-dada, artisits. A few great examples of this are Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg 's works from the 1950's and 60's which you can see below.

“Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it.”
-Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns,Souvenir II, 1964.

Robert Rauschenberg First Landing Jump. 1961. Cloth, metal, leather, electric fixture, cable, and oil paint on composition board, with automobile tire and wood plank. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

We should also take a moment to recognize the influential works of Louise Nevelson. Often overshadowed by the works of her male counterparts Nevelson started creating the monolithic sculptures of forgotten wood bits in the 1940's. Stacking boxes and whatever else she could get her hands on Nevelson created huge black or gold walls and installations that demand the viewers attention.

"I began to see things, almost anything on the street, as art . . . that's why I pick up old wood that had a life, that cars have gone over and the nails have been crushed . . . All [my] objects are retranslated—that's the magic."

Here in Nevelson's quote from a 1988 interview with The Washington Post I believe she truly sums up the wonder of creating through found objects. It is the act of taking a "dead" object that has spoken to you and giving it a new life, presenting it to the public through your own personal lens. Crating beauty from decay.

Another Great clip on Nevelson: Louise Nevelson shares her sculpture studio

For more found object works see: Betye Saar, Leo Sewell, Joseph Cornell, Haim Steinbach, Kurt Schwitters, Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst ,Jake and Dinos Chapman, Christina Mackie, Mike Nelson and Tomoko Takahashi.

Citations

Jasper Johns: "Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it.": Blog: Royal Academy of Arts. (2017, September 7). Retrieved November 18, 2019, from https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/magazine-jasper-johns.

Louise Nevelson shares her sculpture studio · SFMOMA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2019, from https://www.sfmoma.org/watch/louise-nevelson-shares-her-sculpture-studio/.

Louise Nevelson – ‘New York is My Mirror’ . (2016, September 16). Retrieved November 18, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnYBR9VAPsI.

Readymade and The Found Object - Modern Art Terms and Concepts. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/definition/readymade-and-found-object/.

Tate. (n.d.). Found object – Art Term. Retrieved November 19, 2019, from https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/f/found-object.

Tate. (n.d.). Assemblage – Art Term. Retrieved November 18, 2019, from https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/assemblage.

Vigna, F. (2012, November 28). MoMA: Duchamp, Rauschenberg, and Assemblage: A Preview of Fast Forward: Modern Moments 1913 >> 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2019, from https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/11/28/duchamp-rauschenberg-and-assemblage-a-preview-of-fast-forward-modern-moments-1913-2013/.