Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Public Engagement Event
Description
Fountain 17
Celebrating the dual anniversaries
of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain
(100 years) and Armitage Shanks
(200 years) in 2017; the year that
Hull is City of Culture.
MARCEL DUCHAMP’S FOUNTAIN
In April 1917 French artist Marcel Duchamp
submitted his ‘readymade’ Fountain to
the Society of Independent Artists’ fi rst
exhibition in New York. Fountain was a
pre-existing manufactured urinal, signed
‘R.Mutt’; which Duchamp selected, turned
on its back and presented for exhibition.
The exhibit was rejected. This action
redirected the trajectory of 20th century
art and in 2004, 500 elected art
professionals voted Fountain the most
infl uential artwork of the 20th century.
ARMITAGE SHANKS
In 1817 Thomas Bond, a brick maker in the
village of Armitage, built a bottle kiln and
began manufacturing tableware.
By the mid 19th century the company
began manufacturing sanitaryware sold
under the name Armitage Ware. Armitage
Ware merged with Shanks in 1969 to
form Armitage Shanks. In 1998 Ideal
Standard purchased Armitage Shanks.
Armitage Shanks remains a brand within
the Ideal Standard UK Company brand
portfolio today and is used primarily to
market washrooms and bathrooms within
Commercial sectors. Ideal Standard has
been an employer within Hull for over a
hundred years.
HULL AND CITY OF CULTURE
Hull is a city with a strong history connected
to the fi shing industry and the docks. The
city also has a recent history of temporary,
experimental artist led initiatives. 2013 saw
Hull successful in their bid to become the
second UK City of Culture and today in 2017
“365 days of transformative cultural activity”
has begun…