Is It Really Art?

Perhaps you've heard of "Fountain," Marcel Duchamp's "sculpture" urinal. Now a 76 yr old "performance artist" has been charged in France with vandalizing the urinal:

Duchamp's 1917 piece -- an ordinary white, porcelain urinal that's been called one of the most influential works of modern art -- was slightly chipped in the attack at the Pompidou Center in Paris, the museum said Thursday. It was removed from the exhibit for repair.

Perhaps they called in a plumber. But wait, there's more:

The suspect, a Provence resident whose identity was not released, already vandalized the work in 1993 -- urinating into the piece when it was on display in Nimes, in southern France, police said.

We're guessing that urinating into it was part of his "performance art" back then. That's what he claims about his current attack. We have here a microcosm of what's wrong with the art world. Oh, the estimated value of the urinal is $3.6 million. We hope that at least includes installation.

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