From Fountain to Moleskine (Brill Research Perspectives: Art and Law)

Photography was invented in the mid-nineteenth century, and ever since that moment painters have been asking what they are there for. Everyone has their own strategy. Some say they do not paint what is there, but their impressions. Others paint things that are not seen in the world, and therefore cannot be photographed, because they are abstractions. Others yet exhibit urinals in art galleries. This may look like the end of art but, instead, it is the dawn of a new day, not only for painting but - this is the novelty - for every form of art, as well as for the social world in general and for industry, where repetitive tasks are left to machines and humans are required to behave like artists. Contents From Fountain to Moleskine The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Producibility Abstract Keywords 1 Pen, Pencil, Pen Drive 1.1 Labour Avant-Garde 1.2 Work of Art and Reproducibility 1.3 The Contract in Art 2 Mona Lisa: The Canon 2.1 Article 1. Art Is the Class of Artworks 2.2 Article 2. Artworks Are Primarily Physical Objects 2.3 Article 3. Artworks Are Social Objects 2.4 Article 4. Artworks Can Accidentally Cause Knowledge 2.5 Article 5. Artworks Necessarily Arouse Feelings 2.6 Article 6. Artworks Are Things Pretending to Be People 3 Fountain: The Break 3.1 Article 1. Anything Can Be a Work of Art 3.2 Article 2. Fine Arts Are No Longer Fine 3.3 Article 3. The Quality of the Artwork Is Guaranteed by the Market 3.4 Article 4. There Is No Money Back Guarantee 4 Brillo Box: The Reconciliation 4.1 Article 1. Looks Matter 4.2 Article 2. Not Anything Can Be a Work of Art 4.3 Article 3. The Work of Art Is Mainly a Thing 4.4 Article 4. The Commodity Is the Exemplary Thing 5 Moleskine: The Fusion 5.1 Article 1. The Object Is Not Enough, You Need Design 5.2 Article 2. Design Is Creactivity 5.3 Article 3. The Web Requires a Copernican Revolution 5.4 Article 4. Commodities Should Be Treated as Documents 5.5 Article 5. Documents Are the New Commodity 5.6 Article 6. Creactivity Solves the Mystery of the Commodity Bibliography Why should a box of soap pads or an urinal be a cause for reflection? Avant-garde art knows how to answer better than classical and romantic art. What makes art prophetic is not a mysterious inspiration, but the creative answer to emergencies coming from technology and incorporated into objects. What are the pen and the pen drive for? They are there to make plans and renegotiate contracts. Technology does not disappear: we are not dealing with the dematerialization or sublimation of an artwork that becomes pure spirit. Technology is transformed, bringing to the fore the link between artwork and reproducibility as well as between artwork and contract. Contemporary art highlights a character proper to the artworks of all times and types: a document dimension. Indeed, this dimension is not a break with the essence of traditional art: the latter postulates cooperation (and therefore an implicit contract) between author and user The dematerialization of contemporary artworks is only apparent. They highlight their link with contract and a character proper to the artworks of all times and types: a document dimension. As a consequence, this is not a break with traditional art