The Readymades

The Standard Narrative#

In 1913, Marcel Duchamp mounted a bicycle wheel on a kitchen stool. In 1914, he purchased a bottle rack from a Paris department store. In 1917, he submitted a urinal signed "R. Mutt" to an art exhibition. These acts supposedly launched conceptual art by demonstrating that the artist's choice, not their craft, could define art.

This narrative has been repeated countless times: Duchamp freed art from the burden of making, showing that ideas mattered more than execution. The readymades became the foundation for much of contemporary art practice.

The Major Readymades#

• Bicycle Wheel (1913): A bicycle wheel mounted on a stool
• Bottle Rack (1914): A commercial bottle-drying rack
• In Advance of the Broken Arm (1915): A snow shovel
• Fountain (1917): A urinal turned on its back
• Hat Rack (1917): A wooden hat rack
• Comb (1916): A steel dog comb
• Traveler's Folding Item (1916): A typewriter cover

The Complications#

Research by Rhonda Shearer and others has complicated this picture considerably. Many of the "readymades" show evidence of modification or fabrication. The bottle rack doesn't match any known commercial product. The hat rack appears to be custom-made. Even the famous Fountain may not be what it claims to be.

This suggests that Duchamp wasn't simply selecting objects - he was creating elaborate simulations of mass-produced items, then presenting them as "found." The deception itself was part of the art.

Assisted Readymades#

Duchamp also created "assisted readymades" - found objects that were modified:

• Pharmacy (1914): A commercial print with added color dots
• Apolinère Enameled (1916-17): A modified advertisement
• L.H.O.O.Q. (1919): The Mona Lisa with a mustache and goatee
• Why Not Sneeze Rose Sélavy? (1921): A birdcage with marble "sugar cubes"

These complicate the notion that readymades were purely about selection rather than creation.

Relevance to Elden Ring#

Understanding the readymades helps illuminate Elden Ring's artistic strategy:

• Surface vs. Reality: Like the readymades appearing mass-produced while being crafted, Elden Ring appears to be "just a video game" while containing deeper structures.
• Context as Meaning: The readymades showed that context determines meaning; Elden Ring uses the context of Souls games to create expectations it then subverts.
• The Creative Act: Duchamp said the viewer completes the artwork; Elden Ring requires the player's engagement to reveal its full meaning.

The Deception as Art#

If Duchamp's readymades were actually fabrications disguised as found objects, then deception itself becomes an artistic medium. The work exists in the gap between what we think we're seeing and what is actually there.

This same principle may apply to Elden Ring: what appears to be a conventional fantasy game is actually a sophisticated art object operating on multiple levels simultaneously.