Alreadymade

Netherlands / France / Germany 2023, 87 min, English, Dutch, French and German, Hebrew & English subtitles

A commonly accepted response to the perennial question “What is art?” is “Anything displayed in a museum.” This paradigm, along with much of what the world knew about art, shifted when a readymade porcelain urinal was repurposed and placed in a museum. Nearly a century later, “Fountain,” widely synonymous with Marcel Duchamp, remains a world-famous sensation, but as the myth surrounding the piece grew, so did the doubts about the artist’s true identity. In this whimsically eye-catching film, visual artist Barbara Visser uncovers the forgotten history of the key to the mystery—a German Dadaist named Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven—and launches into an amusing and imaginative investigation filled with copies and versions of what may or may not be the true original.

Previous Festivals: IDFA

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