Appropriation and its Role in the Art World

To appropriate something, means to take possession of something that previously belonged to someone else. Commonly seen in art through borrowing, copying, and alteration of preexisting images and objects. Artists who do this are fully aware that the artwork initially belongs to someone else but his goal is never to claim ownership of the design but to rather present it in a new way. Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselman, and Roy Lichtenstein are famous appropriation artists who commonly used everyday objects to draw attention to things that the everyday person could recognize. Tom Wesslemann's "Still Life #35" for example, features common products that the everyday family of the 60s, would be able to identify such as Cola, White Bread, and Beef Stew. This kind of art serves to grab everyone's attention to objects that are usually overlooked. Andy Warhol is one of the most famous appropriation artists and is noted mostly for his Campbell soup cans. He silk-screened a series of soup cans to grab the public attention and direct it towards the incredibly common, Campbell soup can. Although its publicity earned Warhol a law-suit, it also provided free advertisement for the company. Appropriation wants to take a previous design and grab attention to it by presenting the idea in a new way.