The term “Readymade Artwork” was initially used to describe the style of art that Marcel DuChamp was famous for. Pieces such as In Advance of a Broken Arm and Fountain are pinnacles of Readymade artwork, where DuChamp utilized manufactured pieces such as shovels and urinals and turned them into artworks. Although DuChamp is one of the most popular Dada artists in history, not a lot of people understand what he was trying to do with his artworks. Duchamp challenged his viewers to stop looking at the arts from a visual angle but rather from a conceptual standpoint, saying "The choice of readymades is always based on visual indifference and, at the same time, on the total absence of good or bad taste". By making creative titles for paintings and displaying his artwork in unique spaces, DuChamp was able to flip the middle finger at the art institution by creating a style of art that was more cerebral than visual.

Tomkins, Duchamp: A Biography, p. 186. Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917.  Photographed by Alfred Stieglitz at 291 Art Gallery. The Backdrop is Warriors by Marsden Hartley

Marcel Duchamp, In Advance of a Broken Arm, 1964. Wood and galvanized-iron snow shovel, 52" (132cm) high. MoMA (link)

Readymade by Yuta Hosokawa is a Japanese Label that is known for upcycling clothing pieces and turning them into clothing, toys and bags. Throughout the label’s pieces it is very clear that they take a lot of inspiration from Marcel DuChamp (the label’s namesake is Readymade) and seek to challenge the fashion industry through their productions. 

One of DuChamp’s most famous pieces, L.H.O.O.Q. is emblazoned on Readymade’s Mona Lisa t-shirt. It is important to know that when you pronounce L.H.O.O.Q, it sounds vaguely familiar to the term in French “She has a nice ass”. The childish mustache drawn on Mona Lisa and the humorous title of the artwork combined with the vulgar title is a defamation of the most well-known painting, and ultimately the art institution as a whole. Readymade makes visual allusions to DuChamp and defaces the Champion logo on their t-shirts to show that they aren’t riding the same wave of brands you already know.

The Holy Grail of Readymade is the Oversize Work Jacket (White). Featuring embroideries, scribbling, and fabrics from different pieces of clothing knitted together, the piece is not an ode to DuChamp but rather a modern pioneer in the genre. In an exquisite-corpse style, the jacket touches upon environmentalism, power hierarchy and divinity in scribbles of various styles. The idea of readymade artwork is taking something from before and turning it into something else. While this could have just been a stitched-together upcycled trucker jacket, instead it has turned into a piece of artwork showcasing Readymade’s unhinged creativity. Instead of opting for typical prints present on many clothing pieces, this jacket has graphics drawn upon it. While in other pieces one could argue Readymade channels DuChamp, the Oversize Work Jacket is a readymade artwork they can proudly call their own.