readymades
Not custom made
Readymades are ordinary manufactured objects that an artist selects and presents as art, a concept pioneered by Marcel Duchamp in the early twentieth century.
The most famous example is Duchamp's urinal, titled *Fountain*, which challenged traditional notions of artistic skill and creativity.
The term emphasizes that the object is already made—not crafted by the artist's hand—and gains its status as art through the artist's choice and context of presentation.
Structure spouting water skyward
Made in large quantities
- manufacturedMade by machinery
- prefabricatedManufactured in advance
- standardizedMade uniform across cases
- assembly lineSequential workstation manufacturing
commodity · commercial goods · hardware store · utilitarian · functional · anonymous · identical · reproducible
Unauthorized claiming or allocation
- recontextualizationShifting meaning through setting
- art objectPiece valued aesthetically
- found objectRepurposed everyday item as art
- authorshipOrigin of written work
originality · authenticity · irony · intention · designation · selection · displacement · transformation
Consumer-culture visual movement
- WarholPop art icon
- assemblageCollected group of things
- installation artArt occupying whole rooms
- conceptualismUniversals as mental constructs
Pre-made, not tailored
- prêt-à-porterFactory-made designer clothing
- mass-marketFor widespread commercial sale
- department storeLarge multi-section retail establishment
- catalogOrdered list of items
garment industry · haute couture · bespoke · tailored · fast fashion
Fountain
Structure spouting water skyward
mass-produced
Made in large quantities
- manufacturedMade by machinery
- prefabricatedManufactured in advance
- standardizedMade uniform across cases
assembly line · commodity · commercial goods · hardware store · utilitarian · functional · anonymous · identical · reproducible · unmodified
appropriation
Unauthorized claiming or allocation
- recontextualizationShifting meaning through setting
- art objectPiece valued aesthetically
- found objectRepurposed everyday item as art
authorship · originality · authenticity · irony · intention · designation · selection · displacement · transformation · meaning
Pop Art
Consumer-culture visual movement
- WarholPop art icon
- assemblageCollected group of things
- installation artArt occupying whole rooms
off-the-rack
Pre-made, not tailored
- prêt-à-porterFactory-made designer clothing
- mass-marketFor widespread commercial sale
- department storeLarge multi-section retail establishment
catalog · garment industry · haute couture · bespoke · tailored · fast fashion
- contemporary artconceptual art, contemporary art, digital art, contemporary artists, modern art
- avant-gardeDada, Dadaism, Futurism, Constructivism, Cabaret Voltaire
- Avant-Garde ArtDada, Dadaism, Surrealism, Cubism, Futurism
- Conceptual Artconceptualism, concept art, dematerialization, instructions, text art
- found artfound art, found objects, assemblage, junk art, found materials
- transgressive artprovocative art, controversial art, subversive art, radical art, boundary pushing
readymadesbespoke
Made to individual specifications
custom-made · tailored · made-to-order · handmade · tailor-made