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Readymade

Art
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An ordinary manufactured object presented as art through selection and context.

Detailed Definition
A readymade challenges the assumption that art must be handmade or traditionally beautiful. By placing an everyday object in an artistic setting, the artist shifts attention toward choice, naming, context, and interpretation. In poetry, the readymade can inspire found-text methods, documentary quotation, and the use of public language. A readymade poem may frame a notice, receipt, instruction, or overheard phrase so that its hidden strangeness becomes visible.
Example
Example in poetry:
A readymade poem can transform an ordinary found object into art by placing it in a surprising verbal context; Duchamp's readymade practice can inspire a poem about a grocery receipt, broken chair, or discarded bottle; Write a poem that presents a bus schedule as evidence of longing, routine, or separation; A speaker may call a rusted key a readymade symbol, letting its history emerge without changing the object itself
Additional Notes
A readymade challenges ideas about skill, authorship, and value by turning a selected everyday object into art. Marcel Duchamp is a key example.
Also Known As
Ready-Made Found Object
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