Matter, Sculpture's Expanding Field

            When reading these two articles, I thought it was hilarious how much the concept of sculpture has changed in the last hundred years. I have always labeled myself as a conservative when it comes to art, 2-D and 3-D; when I read the world "sculpture” in a textbook, I always expect an inset picture of a classical piece, like Michelangelo's David, or Nike on Samonthrace, which were simple, representational creations. Instead, there are pictures of contemporary, abstract sculptures with complex, underlying meanings to them, and I don't even know where to begin analyzing.

            Getting to the actual readings, Matter stood out more to me than Sculpture’s Expanding Field, which is almost ironic, because the whole time only one thing shouted out to me: “Duchamp, what have you done?!” I guess where I’m going with this is that found object sculptures, or using found objects in conjunction with other objects have become so increasingly popular since the 1910s, it boggles my mind. My little conservative mind never thought that found objects would overtake marble or stone sculptures, but the invasion started way before my lifetime, way before I was old enough to even make a difference. I have never been able to understand the messages they’re trying to get across upon first glance; it feels like artists nowadays are taking the idea of intellectual rigor and running for the hills with it.

            In Matter, the author asked if putting an object in a representation/reconstruction of its natural environment would be better or worse than taking it out of its environment and distorting it to fit the artist’s vision or reality. I already mentioned that I have a mindset of nearly every artist before 1900, so my blunt answer to that question would be “let it be, a urinal was not meant to be on public display.” But putting on my modern artist hat, I understand that Duchamp and subsequent found object artists like him want to push the boundaries of what we call art, whether it be genuinely or comically. I thought Fountain was absolutely hysterical, but that’s because I saw it as art as we know it going down the toilet. Other people see it with different connotations, and I respect that. I suppose I have a hard time understanding why no one else wants to walk through a modern art museum and see a colossal marble statue of a figure, but I can grasp why playing around with light bulbs, stools, and trashed urinals would be a more interesting concept to the increasingly curious artist.