Cast bronze

99.06 x 177.8 x 30.48 cm

The artwork title “Dada” borrows from the French word for hobby-horse, and was chosen at random from a dictionary by Dadaist leaders. Here, Sherrie Levine thus replicates a wooden hobby-horse found in New Mexico by casting it in bronze, evoking childhood while also alienating it from its playful context. The act of appropriation has its roots in the Dada movement: Marcel Duchamp is well-known for introducing the concept of the readymade, an already made object that becomes “art” by being labelled so by the artist. By doing so, the movement actively challenged concepts of originality and authorship. This legacy has not been lost on Levine, who has appropriated Duchamp’s Fountain before. As the artwork toes the line between its literal meaning and its loaded historical references, Levine prompts the viewer’s reflection on cultural associations and preconceptions, consumerism and the value of objects.