The Art of Appropriation

From October 15 to 17, a highly original fair featuring artist-produced works (books, publications, records) took place in Coimbra (Portugal), titled FERA [Feira de Edições Realizadas por Artistas]. Eng: Beast [Fair of Artist-Produced Works]

The publications were linked to contemporary dance and the performing arts, created by artists as a form of visual and audio documentation of their artistic practices. Dozens of publications in a variety of formats were on display, including books from commercial publishers, catalogs, brochures, records (vinyl and CDs), and cassette tapes.

I attended the fair’s opening, and I was struck by the information provided by one of the organizers on how to experience this event—it was quite original. There was only one copy of each work available to be viewed and handled over the course of the three days. Each work was accompanied by a QR code for digital viewing and potential purchase. Since there were no commercial transactions, the focus was solely on the visitors’ experience of engaging with the works in person.

During the fair’s presentation, the organizers also encouraged people to leave the book, catalog, or brochure open to the page they had enjoyed the most. This made the tables where the publications were displayed visually very dynamic. When I returned to the beginning of the visit, thinking I had seen everything, I realized I hadn’t. So I went back again. I found this strategy on the part of the organizers very interesting.

It was this visual experience of mine that inspired me to photograph the pages that other visitors had highlighted in various works, as well as the front and back covers of editions that were constantly changing places. I then realized that I was practicing the Art of Appropriation.

What Is the Art of Appropriation?

It involves using pre-existing images, photographs, real objects, or works by other artists and placing them in new contexts. One of the goals of this practice is to challenge traditional concepts of originality, authenticity, authorship, and rights.

There are always issues that arise with this approach to communication; law and ethics spark major debates about plagiarism, fair use, and intellectual property.

Movements such as Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, and Pop Art challenged these debates by practicing Appropriation Art. Picasso glued newspapers, fabrics, and real objects onto his canvases. Marcel Duchamp elevated Dadaism with his famous “readymade” urinal (Fountain). Salvador Dalí used decollage and collages. Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg appropriated soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles, comic strips, and photographs of celebrities.

In photography, the 1970s and 1980s marked the rise of the Pictures Generation. An elite group of American artists, such as Jeff Koons and Barbara Kruger, among others, focused their work on re-photography and the recontextualization of media images as a form of critique of the visual stereotypes and the world of show business of the time.