Fountain Freak-Out: Art or Vandalism?

“The Dada movement made its name in the early 20th century by trying to destroy the conventional notion of art. Taking literal inspiration from their exploits this week, a latter-day neo-Dadaist took a small hammer to Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Fountain,’ the factory-made urinal that is considered the cornerstone of Conceptual Art. The assailant, a French performance artist named Pierre Pinoncelli, was immediately arrested after his act of vandalism… The porcelain urinal was slightly chipped in the attack and was withdrawn to be restored… Mr. Pinoncelli, 77, who urinated into the same urinal and struck it with a hammer in a show in Nîmes in 1993, has a long record of organizing bizarre happenings. Police officials said he again called his action a work of art, a tribute to Duchamp and other Dada artists.”