Nurture vs. Nurture (Bottle Rack Gun Rack)
2009
Marker on grid paper, metal hooks, guns
95 x 70 x 7 cm
Nurture vs. Nurture (Bottle Rack Gun Rack) is a drawing of Marcel Duchamp’s Bottle Rack with metal hooks protruding through it from the wall. The drawing, made with marker on grid paper, is the exact size of the replica Bottle Rack devised by Duchamp after the original was thrown away. The metal hooks that emanate from the drawing are intended to hold guns, creating a new function for the image of an object that lost its original purpose (drying bottles) when it became ‘art’. While nodding to the powerful influence and legacy of Duchamp’s ideas, the guns also amplify a common phallic interpretation of the Bottle Rack. In becoming part of the artwork, however, the guns are rendered impotent.
