Some Aesthetic Decisions | Bonnie Clearwater

Featuring works by artists including Cory Arcangel, Sophie Calle, Marcel Duchamp, Judy Fiskin, and Jeff Koons the book marks the centenary of an iconic masterpiece. One hundred years ago, Dada artist Marcel Duchamp forever changed the nature of art by anonymously submitting Fountain in 1917, a porcelain urinal signed “R. Mutt” as an art work to the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists, New York. The show organizers’ rejection of Fountain ignited a controversy that persists to today about the definition of art and who gets to pass judgement. NSU Art Museum marks this centenary by organizing S ome Aesthetic Decisions , a show of artworks by Cory Arcangel, John Baldessari, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Sophie Calle, Duchamp, Judy Fiskin, Claire Fontaine, Mike Kelley, Jeff Koons, Joseph Kosuth, Jorge Pardo, Andy Warhol et al, examining issues of beauty, value and judgement. The title of the book, and of the exhibition, is derived from Judy Fiskin’s photography series Some Aesthetic Decisions (1973 to 1995).