Appropriation

Within the visual arts it could arguably be said that Appropriation started within Cubism and the use of found materials. However, these elements were then incorporated in to new pieces. In 1917, Marcel Duchamp showed a piece called 'Fountain' for the first time. This piece involves the display of a urinal as a work of art. The only modification to the factory model was the addition of the signature 'R. Mutt 1917' (an assumed named used by the artist).

This piece is pivotal within the history of art as it is the first example of an artist taking an object and displaying it, as found, within a gallery context. This is appropriation in its purest form within the visual arts. Where the art comes is that by experiencing the object out of its normal context the viewer is invited to consider it on different terms. This may be the consideration of the aesthetic value of something that is considered to be simply practical. It also poses the question of artistic originality and authenticity. It asks the question 'do you have to make something yourself in order for it to be your own work of art?'. With this one step Duchamp opened up the possibilities of art. Art was not just about hand eye coordination but about the adept or poetical choice of objects and ideas.

Appropriation has now become an established part of many artists' methodologies. The history of which can be traced through Dada and Fluxus to Pop Artists such as Andy Warhol. Another example of what could be called a 'pure' form of appropriation is the work of Sherrie Levine in the 1980's. She took specific photographs by Walker Evans and displayed them herself. Here it is demonstrated that a female artist in the 1980's displaying these photographs has very different connotations to Walker Evan's initial reasons for taking the photographs. Here again the 'art' of the work happens 'behind the scenes' as it were. A shifting of values for a fixed point - in this case a photograph. This is akin to a word thats meaning changes over time.

This is evident in all media from the visual arts through to music and commercial culture such as advertisements. Within the music industry sampling is often used to take a small part of one song to create another. However, to find the 'purest' form of appropriation the cover version is more effective. For example, the Sex Pistol's cover of 'I did it my way' by Frank Sinatra brings with it many new connotations. In the original version Sinatra's rendition of the lyrics can be seen to be a comment about his struggle to reach the top of the music business. In the Sex Pistol's version we can not help but reflect on their struggles with substance abuse. Again we see a shift in meaning attaching itself to a single cultural reference point:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIXg9KUiy00


Within commercial culture the use of particular styles and fonts are used to create a particular awareness within popular culture of iconic images and the assumed connotations of certain styles and fonts. There is a growing use of irony that relies upon the history and cultural understanding of these visual techniques. For example, the use of the Barbara Kruger piece 'I shop therefore I am' by Selfridges. This act of appropriation seems to invite an attitude of knowing decadence to the stores shopping that is in direct opposition to the questioning nature of the originals. This is particularily interesting to us as the original Barbara Kruger work appropriated fonts and stylings from earlier advertising imagery.

With the ease of access to computer technology over the last two decades it is easier than ever before for anyone to obtain the work of others. Just as popular culture has become more accessible in terms of the ability to produce, so to appropriation has become a far more accepted part of the way popular culture expresses itself. This can be evidenced across the internet on sites such as Youtube and My Space. Here it is easy to take a pop song or image and show it within your own page or site. Instead of a bedroom wall as the site of the consumption for this iconography it is the internet. With this comes instant networking and publication to allow the imagery to be reinterpreted once more. One example is the adaptation of a song with new images as a way to personalise it. Whilst this is not a pure example of appropriation as the original has been altered the song itself has been given a new more personal meaning. Here we can see the same shift in meaning from a single cultural reference point - in this case a pop song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvS90FLE1oE

Through the history of appropriation we can see the process go from controversial large scale public statement through to a proliferation of reinterpration on an ever more personal scale.