- White Bear Township, Ramsey County, Minnesota (Wikipedia)
White Bear Township is an urban township in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 11,049 at the 2020 census, up from 10,949 in 2010. White Bear Township was organized in 1858, and named after its White Bear Lake. Over the years, the cities of White Bear Lake, Vadnais Heights, Gem Lake, and North Oaks were carved out of the township’s original 36 square miles (93 km2). It now comprises four discontiguous parcels over an area of 9.3 square miles (24 km2). It is the only remaining township in Ramsey County. The unincorporated communities of Bald Eagle and Bellaire are located in the township.
Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.
Editorial in the 2nd edition of The Blind Man
- Fountain (Duchamp) (Wikipedia)
Fountain is a readymade sculpture by Marcel Duchamp in 1917, consisting of a porcelain urinal signed “R. Mutt”. In April 1917, an ordinary piece of plumbing chosen by Duchamp was submitted for an exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists, the inaugural exhibition by the Society to be staged at the Grand Central Palace in New York. When explaining the purpose of his readymade sculpture, Duchamp stated they are “everyday objects raised to the dignity of a work of art by the artist’s act of choice.” In Duchamp’s presentation, the urinal’s orientation was altered from its usual positioning. Fountain was not rejected by the committee, since Society rules stated that all works would be accepted from artists who paid the fee, but the work was never placed in the show area. Following that removal, Fountain was photographed at Alfred Stieglitz’s studio, and the photo published in the Dada journal The Blind Man. The original has been lost.
