READY MADE CHINATOWN

Chinatown in a Chinatown Gallery. What you see in front of you is a "Ready Made." Definition of "Ready Made: "It is an object manufactured for some other purpose, presented by an artist as a work of art." Between 1914 and 1921, Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968), who originated this concept, selected and signed, among others, a snow shovel, a comb, and a urinal. Displayed: Chinese hand made paper funeral object. In China there is a tradition when you bury the dead, you offer paper objects such as houses, cars, clothing, watches, food, mobile phones, games, money, jewelry, shoes, lap-top, TV, AC appliances and even domestic house hold object (e.g. dishes, spoon, chopsticks). The Chinese believe that when someone dies, his spirit goes to the afterlife, where they live on, doing much the same things they did in their life. Surviving relatives wanted to send gifts to make the after life for them as comfortable as possible. I bought these paper hand made objects in a store in Chinatown, made in China.