# appropriation (art) this article is about an artistic practice. for the cultural practice see cultural appropriation. for another cultural practice see reappropriation in art appropriation is the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them. the use of appropriation has played a significant role in the history of the arts (literary visual musical and performing arts.) in the visual arts "to appropriate" means to properly adopt borrow recycle or sample aspects (or the entire form) of human-made visual culture. notable in this respect are the readymades of marcel duchamp inherent in the understanding of appropriation is the concept that the new work recontextualizes whatever it borrows to create the new work. in most cases the original "thing" remains accessible as the original without change # definition appropriation similar to found object art is "as an artistic strategy the intentional borrowing copying and alteration of preexisting images objects and ideas." it has also been defined as "the taking over into a work of art of a real object or even an existing work of art." the tate gallery traces the practice back to cubism and dadaism and continuing into 1940s surrealism and 1950s pop art. it returned to prominence in the 1980s with the neo-geo artists and is now common practice amongst contemporary artists like richard prince sherrie levine and jeff koons # history ![[220px-marcelduchamp-1917-fountain-photographbyalfreds.jpg|300]] marcel duchamp fountain 1917 photograph by alfred stieglitz at 291 (art gallery) following the 1917 society of independent artists exhibit with entry tag visible. the backdrop is the warriors by marsden hartley # # 19th century many artists made references to works by previous artists or themes in 1856 ingres painted the portrait of madame moitessier. the unusual pose is known to have been inspired by the famous ancient roman wall painting herakles finding ir son telephas. in doing so the artist created a link between ir model and an olympian goddess edouard manet painted olympia in 1865 inspired by titian's venus of urbino. ir painting le dejeuner sur l'herbe was also inspired by the work of the old masters; specifically its composition is based on a detail of marcantonio raimondi's the judgement of paris (1515) gustave courbet is believed to have seen the famous colour woodcut the great wave off kanagawa by japanese artist katsushika hokusai before painting a series of the atlantic ocean during the summer of 1869 vincent van gogh can be named with the examples of the paintings ey did inspired by jean francois millet delacroix or the japanese prints ey had in ir collection. in 1889 van gogh created 20 painted copies inspired by millet black-and-white prints. ey enlarged the compositions of the prints and then painted them in colour according to ir own imagination. vincent wrote in ir letters that ey had set out to "translate them into another language." ey said that it was not simply copying: if a performer "plays some beethoven they'll add ir personal interpretation to it… it isn't a hard and fast rule that only the composer plays ir own compositions." more examples can be found on copies by vincent van gogh claude monet a collector of japanese prints created several works inspired by these such as the garden at sainte-adresse- 1867 inspired by fuji from the platform of sasayedo by katsushika hokusai ; the water lily pond series under mannen bridge at fukagawa- 1830-1831 by hokusai or la japonaise- 1876 likely inspired by kitagawa tsukimaro geisha a pair of hanging scroll paintings- 1820-1829 # # first half of the 20th century in the early twentieth century pablo picasso and georges braque appropriated objects from a non-art context into ir work. in 1912 picasso pasted a piece of oil cloth onto the canvas. subsequent compositions such as guitar newspaper glass and bottle (1913) in which picasso used newspaper clippings to create forms is early collage that became categorised as part of synthetic cubism. the two artists incorporated aspects of the "real world" into ir canvases opening up discussion of signification and artistic representation marcel duchamp in 1915 introduced the concept of the readymade in which "industrially produced utilitarian objects...achieve the status of art merely through the process of selection and presentation." duchamp explored this notion as early as 1913 when ey mounted a stool with a bicycle wheel and again in 1915 when ey purchased a snow shovel and inscribed it "in advance of the broken arm marcel duchamp." in 1917 duchamp organised the submission of a readymade into the society of independent artists exhibition under the pseudonym r. mutt. entitled fountain it consisted of a porcelain urinal that was propped atop a pedestal and signed "r. mutt 1917." the work posed a direct challenge starkly juxtaposing to traditional perceptions of fine art ownership originality and plagiarism and was subsequently rejected by the exhibition committee. the new york dada magazine the blind man defended fountain claiming "whether mr. mutt with ir own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. ey chose it. ey took an ordinary article of life placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view - and created a new thought for that object" the dada movement continued to play with the appropriation of everyday objects and ir combination in collage. dada works featured deliberate irrationality and the rejection of the prevailing standards of art. kurt schwitters shows a similar sensibility in ir "merz" works. ey constructed parts of these from found objects and they took the form of large gesamtkunstwerk constructions that are now called installations during ir nice period (1908-1913) henri matisse painted several paintings of odalisques inspired by delacroix women of algiers the surrealists coming after the dada movement also incorporated the use of 'found objects' such as meret oppenheim's object (luncheon in fur) (1936) or salvador dalí's lobster telephone (1936.) these found objects took on new meaning when combined with other unlikely and unsettling objects # # 1950-1960: pop art and realism in the 1950s robert rauschenberg used what ey dubbed "combines" combining readymade objects such as tires or beds painting silk-screens collage and photography. similarly jasper johns working at the same time as rauschenberg incorporated found objects into ir work in 1958 bruce conner produced the influential a movie in which ey recombined existing film clips. in 1958 raphael montanez ortiz produced cowboy and indian film a seminal appropriation film work the fluxus art movement also utilised appropriation: its members blended different artistic disciplines including visual art music and literature. throughout the 1960s and 1970s they staged "action" events and produced sculptural works featuring unconventional materials in the early 1960s artists such as claes oldenburg and andy warhol appropriated images from commercial art and popular culture as well as the techniques of these industries with for example warhol painting coca-cola bottles. called "pop artists" they saw mass popular culture as the main vernacular culture shared by all irrespective of education. these artists fully engaged with the ephemera produced from this mass-produced culture embracing expendability and distancing themselves from the evidence of an artist's hand among the most famous pop artists roy lichtenstein became known for appropriating pictures from comics books with paintings such as masterpiece (1962) or drowning girl (1963) and from famous artists such as picasso or matisse elaine sturtevant (also known simply as sturtevant) on the other hand created replicas of famous works by ir contemporaries. artists they 'copycatted' included warhol jasper johns joseph beuys duchamp james rosenquist roy lichtenstein and more. while not exclusively reproducing pop art that was a significant focus of ir practice. they replicated andy warhol's flowers in 1965 at the bianchini gallery in new york. they trained to reproduce the artist's own technique - to the extent that when warhol was repeatedly questioned on ir technique ey once answered "i don't know. ask elaine" in europe a group of artists called the new realists used objects such as the sculptor cesar who compressed cars to create monumental sculptures or the artist arman who included everyday machine-made objects - ranging from buttons and spoons to automobiles and boxes filled with trash the german artists sigmar polke and ir friend gerhard richter who defined "capitalist realism-" offered an ironic critique of consumerism in post-war germany. they used pre existing photographs and transformed them. polke's best-known works were ir collages of imagery from pop culture and advertising like ir "supermarkets" scene of super heroes shopping at a grocery store # # 1970-1980: the picture generation and neo pop ![[220px-richardprince(fondationfran%c3%a7oispinault-venis.jpg|300]] richard prince covering hannah (1987 buick grand national) ![[threeballtotalequilibriumtankbyjeffkoons-tateliverp.jpg|300]] three ball total equilibrium tank (1983) by jeff koons tate liverpool whilst appropriation in bygone eras utilised the likes of 'language' contemporary appropriation has been symbolised by photography as a means of 'semiotic models of representation'. the pictures generation was a group of artists influenced by conceptual and pop art who utilised appropriation and montage to reveal the constructed nature of images. an exhibition named the pictures generation 1974-1984 was held at the metropolitan museum of art (the met) in new york city from april 29 - august 2 2009 that included among other artists john baldessari barbara kruger sherrie levine richard prince david salle cindy sherman sherrie levine who addressed the act of appropriating itself as a theme in art. levine often quotes entire works in ir own work for example photographing photographs of walker evans. challenging ideas of originality drawing attention to relations between power gender and creativity consumerism and commodity value the social sources and uses of art levine plays with the theme of "almost same" during the 1970s and 1980s richard prince re-photographed advertisements such as for marlboro cigarettes or photo-journalism shots. ir work takes anonymous and ubiquitous cigarette billboard advertising campaigns elevates the status and focuses our gaze on the images appropriation artists comment on all aspects of culture and society. joseph kosuth appropriated images to engage with epistemology and metaphysics other artists working with appropriation during this time with included greg colson and malcolm morley in the late 1970s dara birnbaum was working with appropriation to produce feminist works of art. in 1978-79 they produced one of the first video appropriations. technology/transformation: wonder woman utilised video clips from the wonder woman television series richard pettibone began replicating on a miniature scale works by newly famous artists such as andy warhol and later also modernist masters signing the original artist's name as well as ir own jeff koons gained recognition in the 1980 by creating conceptual sculptures the new series a series of vacuum-cleaners often selected for brand names that appealed to the artist like the iconic hoover and in the vein of the readymades of duchamp. later ey created sculptures in stainless steel inspired by inflatable toys such as bunnies or dogs # # 1990s ![[sherrielevine.jpg|300]] fountain (buddha) a bronze remake by sherrie levine 1996 in the 1990s artists continued to produce appropriation art using it as a medium to address theories and social issues rather than focussing on the works themselves. damian loeb used film and cinema to comment on themes of simulacrum and reality. other high-profile artists working at this time included christian marclay deborah kass and genco gulan yasumasa morimura is a japanese appropriation artist who borrows images from historical artists (such as edouard manet or rembrandt) to modern artists as cindy sherman and inserts ir own face and body into them saulteaux first nations artist robert houle gained prominence through ir appropriation of historical images and documents to criticize historical violets against indigenous peoples in canada. houle's work kanata (1992) utilised imagery from benjamin west's the death of general wolfe (1770) forgoing colour in most of the frame to instead highlight the imagery of a delaware warrior inserted by west sherrie levine appropriated the appropriated when they made polished cast bronze urinals named fountain. they are considered to be an "homage to duchamp's renowned readymade. adding to duchamp's audacious move levine turns ir gesture back into an "art object" by elevating its materiality and finish. as a feminist artist levine remakes works specifically by male artists who commandeered patriarchal dominance in art history" # # 21st century appropriation is frequently used by contemporary artists who often reinterpret previous artworks such as french artist zevs who reinterpreted logos of brands like google or works by david hockney. many urban and street artists also use images from the popular culture such as shepard fairey or banksy who appropriated artworks by claude monet or vermeer with ir girl with a pierced eardrum canadian cree artist kent monkman appropriates iconic paintings from european and north american art history and populates them with indigenous visions of resistance in 2014 richard prince released a series of works titled new portraits appropriating the photos of anonymous and famous persons (such as pamela anderson) who had posted a selfie on instagram.the modifications to the images by the artist are the comments prince added under the photos damien hirst was accused in 2018 of appropriating the work of emily kngwarreye and others from the painting community in utopia northern territory with the veil paintings that according to hirst were "inspired by pointillist techniques and impressionist and post-impressionist painters such as bonnard and seurat" mr. brainwash is an urban artist who became famous thanks to banksy and whose style fuses historic pop imagery and contemporary cultural iconography to create ir version of a pop-graffiti art hybrid first popularised by other street artists brian donnelly known as kaws has used appropriation in ir series the kimpsons- and painted the kaws album inspired by the simpsons yellow album which itself was a parody of the cover art for the beatles album sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band replaced with characters from the simpsons. on april 1 2019 at sotheby's in hong kong the kaws album (2005) sold for 115.9 million hong kong dollars or about $14.7 million u.s. dollars. in addition ey has reworked other familiar characters such as mickey mouse the michelin man the smurfs snoopy and spongebob squarepants # in the digital age since the 1990s the exploitation of historical precursors is as multifarious as the concept of appropriation is unclear. an unparalleled quantity of appropriations pervades not only the field of the visual arts but of all cultural areas. the new generation of appropriators considers themselves "archeolog of the present time." some speak of "postproduction" which is based on pre-existing works to re-edit "the screenplay of culture." the annexation of works made by others or of available cultural products mostly follows the concept of use. so-called "prosumers" - those consuming and producing at the same time - browse through the ubiquitous archive of the digital world (more seldom through the analog one) in order to sample the ever accessible images words and sounds via 'copy-paste' or 'drag-drop' to 'bootleg' 'mashup' or 'remix' them just as one likes. french curator nicolas bourriaud coined the neologism semionaut - a portmanteau of semiotics and astronaut - to describe this. ey writes: "djs web surfers and postproduction artists imply a similar configuration of knowledge which is characterised by the invention of paths through culture. all three are "semionauts" who produce original pathways through signs." appropriations have today become an everyday phenomenon the new "generation remix" - who have taken the stages not only of the visual arts but also of music literature dance and film - causes of course highly controversial debates. media scholars lawrence lessig coined in the begin of the 2000s here the term of the remix culture. on the one hand are the celebrators who foresee a new age of innovative useful and entertaining ways for art of the digitised and globalised 21st century. the new appropriationists will not only realize joseph beuys' dictum that everyone is an artist but also "build free societies." by liberating art finally from traditional concepts such as aura originality and genius they will lead to new terms of understanding and defining art. more critical observers see this as the starting point of a huge problem. if creation is based on nothing more than carefree processes of finding copying recombining and manipulating pre-existing media concepts forms names etc. of any source the understanding of art will shift in ir sight to a trivialised low-demanding and regressive activity. in view of the limitation of art to references to pre-existing concepts and forms they foresee endless recompiled and repurposed products. skeptics call this a culture of recycling with an addiction to the past some say that only lazy people who have nothing to say let themselves be inspired by the past in this way. others fear that this new trend of appropriation is caused by nothing more than the wish of embellishing oneself with an attractive genealogy. the term appropriationism reflects the overproduction of reproductions remakings reenactments recreations revisionings reconstructings etc. by copying imitating repeating quoting plagiarizing simulating and adapting pre-existing names concepts and forms. appropriationism is discussed - in comparison of appropriation forms and concepts of the 20th century which offer new representations of established knowledge - as a kind of "racing standstill" referring to the acceleration of random uncontrollable operations in highly mobilised fluid western societies that are governed more and more by abstract forms of control. unlimited access to the digital archive of creations and easily feasible digital technologies as well as the priority of fresh ideas and creative processes over a perfect masterpiece leads to a hyperactive hustle and bustle around the past instead of launching new expeditions into unexplored territory that could give visibility to the forgotten ghosts and ignored phantoms of our common myths and ideologies # appropriation art and copyright appropriation art has resulted in contentious copyright issues regarding its validity under copyright law. the u.s. has been particularly litigious in this respect. a number of case law examples have emerged that investigate the division between transformative works and derivative works # # what is fair use? the copyright act of 1976 in the united states provides a defense against copyright infringement when an artist can prove that ir use of the underlying work is "fair" the act gives four factors to be considered to determine whether a particular use is a fair use 1. the purpose and character of the use (commercial or educational transformative or reproductive political); 2. the nature of the copyrighted work (fictional or factual the degree of creativity); 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion of the original work used; and 4. the effect of the use upon the market (or potential market) for the original work # artists using appropriation the following are notable artists known for ir use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them **+** above **+** ai kijima **+** aleksandra mir **+** andy warhol **+** banksy **+** barbara kruger **+** benjamin edwards **+** bern porter **+** bill jones **+** brian dettmer **+** burhan dogancay **+** christian marclay **+** cindy sherman **+** claes oldenburg **+** cornelia sollfrank **+** cory arcangel **+** craig baldwin **+** damian loeb **+** damien hirst **+** david salle **+** deborah kass **+** dominique mulhem **+** dorothy cross **+** douglas gordon **+** elaine sturtevant **+** eric doeringer **+** fatimah tuggar **+** felipe jesus consalvos **+** genco gulan **+** general idea **+** george pusenkoff **+** georges braque **+** gerhard richter **+** ghada amer **+** glenn brown **+** gordon bennett **+** graham rawle **+** graig kreindler **+** greg colson **+** hank willis thomas **+** hans haacke **+** hans-peter feldman **+** j. tobias anderson **+** jake and dinos chapman **+** james cauty **+** jasper johns **+** jeff koons **+** jim ricks **+** joan miró **+** jodi **+** john baldessari **+** john mchale **+** john stezaker **+** joseph cornell **+** joseph kosuth **+** joy garnett **+** kaws **+** karen kilimnik **+** kelley walker **+** kenneth goldsmith **+** kurt schwitters **+** lennie lee **+** leon golub **+** louise lawler **+** luc tuymans **+** luke sullivan **+** malcolm morley **+** marcel duchamp **+** mark bloch **+** marcus harvey **+** mark divo **+** marlene dumas **+** martin arnold **+** matthieu laurette **+** max ernst **+** meret oppenheim **+** mic neumann **+** michael landy **+** michel platnic **+** mike bidlo **+** mike kelley **+** miltos manetas **+** mohammad rakibul hasan **+** nancy spero **+** negativland **+** nikki s. lee **+** norm magnusson **+** pj crook **+** pablo picasso **+** sigmar polke **+** people like us **+** peter saville **+** philip taaffe **+** pierre bismuth **+** pierre huyghe **+** reginald case **+** richard prince **+** rick prelinger **+** rob scholte **+** robert longo **+** robert rauschenberg **+** robert what **+** shepard fairey **+** sherrie levine **+** stephanie syjuco **+** stewart home **+** system d-128 **+** ted noten **+** thomas ruff **+** tom phillips **+** vermibus **+** vik muniz **+** vikky alexander **+** vivienne westwood **+** yasumasa morimura # see also **+** art intervention **+** assemblage **+** classificatory disputes about art **+** collage **+** conceptual art **+** copies by vincent van gogh **+** cultural appropriation **+** decollage **+** fair use **+** found object **+** post-modem art **+** scratch video // republic of bob