American Art Collaborative

“Art simply varies in its sources of inspiration and in its modes of execution. It can vary within one man, depending on his curiosity and on his sense of freedom.” Man Ray, Exhibition Catalogue, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 196
Man Ray enjoyed questioning the function of everyday objects. This piece displays two weightlifting dumbbells as found objects or “readymades.” The object and the title express two contradictions: Dumb can mean speechless or silent and so the Dumb Bell cannot ring, while the dumbbells cannot be lifted because they have become objects of art