Chapter 13

E/C YCOT, REY ANTHONY G.

E/C VALDUEZA, ELIOENAI B.
Appropriation Art

is the use of pre-existing

objects or images with little or
no transformation applied to
them.
What does the artist do with the
image which was appropriated?
• Any appropriated image can be photographed or digitally
reproduced copied by mechanical means using an overhead
projector that is attached directly into the artwork or recreated
in several ways. The result can be real representation of the
appropriated object or a genuine transformation
• Sometimes artists recreate an object or repaint it, they may
alter its scale or style to create a new artwork

• Juxtapose (place or deal with close together for

contrasting effect.)

• Recontextualize
IS THE USE OF
APPROPRIATION
SIGNIFICANT?
Historical Background of
Appropriation in Arts
Appropriation in art started in1970s with Richard
Prince rephotographed advertisements.
In 1980s Sherrie Levine
In 1990s, artist continued to produce
appropriation art, rising it as a medium to
address theories, political, and social issues,
rather than to focus in the works themselves

In this digital age, remix culture have already

taken the stage
Appropriation Art Cases Filed on
Court
Andy warhol on his famous “Campbell’s Soup Can
Jeff Koon’s “String of Puppies”
Andria Blanch's “Silk Sandals by
Gucci”
Damien Hirst’s Sculpture “Hymn”
Richard Prince and his companions
on their painting “Canal Zone”

Patrick Cariou Richard Prince

Appropriating a familiar object to
make an artwork can prevent the
artist claiming copyright
ownership and artworks that
"TRANSFORMED THE ORIGINAL
IMAGES ARE PERMITTED“.
 Appropriation of Art into
Contemporary Narratives

Three forms of narrative appropriateness:

•Reproduction
•Transfiguration
•Stylization
Five Acts of Cultural Appropriation

1. Object appropriation- Material appropriation

occurs when the possession of a tangible
object (such as a sculpture) is transferred
from members of one culture to members of
another culture.

2. Context appropriation- This form of

appropriation involves the reproduction, by a
member of one culture, of non-tangible works
of art (such as stories, musical compositions
or dramatic works) produced by some other
culture.
3. Style appropriation- Sometimes artists do not reproduce works
produced by another culture, but still take something from that
culture.

4. Motif appropriation- This form is related to stylistic

appropriation. Sometimes artists are influenced by the art of a
culture other than their own without creating works in the same
style.

5. Subject appropriation- Subject appropriation occurs

when someone from one culture represents members
or aspects of another culture.
Appropriation in Contemporary Arts
In separating images from the original context of their own media, we allow them
to take on new and varied meanings. The process and nature of appropriation
has considered by anthropologists as part of the study of cultural change and
cross-cultural contact.

Images and elements of culture that have been appropriated commonly involve
famous and recognizable works of art, well known literature, and easily
accessible images from the media.

The first artist to successfully demonstrate forms of appropriation within his or

her work is widely considered to be Marcel Duchamp. He devised the concept of
the ‘readymade’, which essentially involved an item being chosen by the artist,
signed by the artist and repositioned into a gallery context.
By asking the viewer to consider the object as art, Duchamp was
appropriating it. For Duchamp, the work of the artist was in selecting the
object. Whilst the beginnings of appropriation can be located to the
beginning of the 20th century through the innovations of Duchamp, it is
often said that if the art of the 1980’s could be epitomized by any one
technique or practice, it would be appropriation

THE WRITER CONCLUDED THAT THE

NOTION OF AUTHORITY IS STILL VERY
PRESENT WITHIN APPROPRIATION IN
CONTEMPORARY ART- BUT DIMINISHED
RESPONSIBILITY.