Found object

DEFINITION

From the French words "objet trouve", the term in art vocabulary applies to artwork created with objects that are &#39;found&#39;, rather than being traditionally used art mediums, and are then incorporated into artwork. The method comes from the tenet of Surrealism that any object can become a work of art. Found Objects pre-exist unto themselves rather than being made as art mediums such as oil, bronze, etc. The use of Found Objects in art expression began in France in the early 20th century with Dadaists and Surrealists including Max Ernst and Marcel Duchamp. Their focus was to shift attention away from the physical act of creation. After World War II, artists used Found Objects for personal social messages such as commentary on a throw-away society. An example would be the use of mannequins by Edward Kienholz to symbolize a line-up of emotionless people. Artists in America using found objects include Joseph Cornell, Pierre Arman, Marlene Dumas, and Marcel Duchamp. Sources: Robert Atkins, "Art Speak"; Source: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; AskART datbase <br><br> First used in the early years of the 20th century (in the Dadaist movement), a found object is any object that an artist comes upon, and uses in an artwork, or as the artwork itself. Marcel Duchamp called these works &#39;readymades.&#39; He exhibited a urinal in the Society of Independent Artists exhibition in New York in 1917, under the signature &#39;R Mutt&#39;; Dada was the precursor to Surrealism, and was an &#39;anti-art&#39; movement after World War I, which sought to avoid order and rationality in art. Dada also questioned the very meaning of art: what is art? who decides if an object is art? is it art because an artist places it in a museum and calls it art? etc. Later, Picasso made a bull&#39;s head from found objects: the seat and handle bars of a bicycle.