Don't do it! (Readymades of the 20th Century) 2000

This is John Armleder's "Don't do it! (Readymades of the 20th Century)," and I am not sure when it was made. It seems like a response to art history and a comment on consumer culture. Wow, this artist sure piled it on! Look at all these discarded objects, castoffs, and plain old junk assembled together. Each item carries its own history and associations and together, they're a hot mess of late capitalism. I imagine Armleder, a mischievous trickster, rummaging through flea markets, his studio, and maybe even the trash, collecting these remnants of daily life. I wonder if he felt like a conductor orchestrating a chaotic symphony? The cool detachment of the “readymade” meets the impulsive urge to collect and arrange, reflecting the overload of information, stuff, and choices we face every day. I think Armleder's kind of winking at us, daring us to find meaning in the meaningless. He's not telling us what to think, but creating a space to reflect on our own relationship to objects and the world around us. Like other artists, he invites us to find the potential for beauty and insight in the unexpected.